Kriss Morton - In the Loft of the Cabin Goddess

Guilt, anger, happiness - Feelings invoked "Gripped"

Before you go any further you have to do two things in order to properly enjoy this review:

Go do a search YouTube for "dexys midnight runners come on eileen" specifically hosted on "wilder eduardo rojas lucana·" channel and listen to it while you are reading in it's completion(or click here http://youtu.be/oc-P8oDuS0Q). If the video ends before you finish reading this review, start it again, the song is a must. This song will change your life for the better, and will make this review even more impactful on your life. Trust me, I know what I am talking about!
Nod ... did you nod? By nodding, you agree to not share where you heard about the Program from! Just... well, you did not hear it from me!! (Never thought you would read that on my site, huh?)

I have a love-hate relationship with Gripped. It's one of those books that makes you feel guilty. The kind of guilt sits at the bottom of your gut in a pool of acid just festering into another bleeding ulcer to match the one from stress which was brought on by trying to stay on top of the "Joneses" or the latest best and greatest brand... you know what I mean? That stress you put on yourself, making sure that you got the right brand to go with hair shampoo to go with your hair product to make sure that it blends in with the glimmer of eye shadow that you bought to go with the new lip balm because that's what Cosmo said would be the best …to go with your new look you know the one that you found when you were flipping to the magazines at the massage parlor that also gets chemical peels on the side … which you read on Yelp was safe and took ten years off your face *taking in a deep breath* and where you also go get your eyebrows threaded because Susan from your Twitter feed saw the local Weather Girl… Yep it was, those feelings. The one you get when you know no matter what you do you will never be able to keep up but if you do not try … *face smashing into desk… repeat*

Gripped is a satire, a candid dark comedy with Donnelly throwing the reality in our faces and shoving it down our throats at what has been happening over the last two decades of viral marketing, crowdsourcing, branding product placement and the internet has caused it to be something we all have to have it or face the consequences. Gripped presents this is a literal and bleak metaphoric sense but at the same time, it really is not world of advertising is always been something that drives everything forward it's a way to get people to purchase things even when they don't have anything during the depression after the stock market crash the only way consumers were going to byword to basically be tricked into thinking that their lives work mother lives were miserable and this product was going to make their lives better. Our main protagonist is like tens of thousands of other cubicle monkeys face to paste a smile on and buy the corporate line. Day in and day out. Something had to break soon and as we learned from the first line, on this, the first day of the rest of his life, he was going to be in for one hell of a wakeup call, if he believed in omens

“I came on my cat today, again”

Pick your jaws off the floor, I choked on what I was drinking and couldn’t stop laughing the rest I read. This guy was a mess as he constantly masturbatated his way through life. I kind of got annoyed but I realized, again, it was another one of the authors messed up metaphors. Seriously bugged the crap out of me till I slept on it a couple weeks each time I would think about the book and some of the scenes I would laugh more, be less irate and more awe inspired at his insight and clearness. Clever bastard!

Though this was a story of Marky..Mark, and learn how his life changes, as long as he follows the corporate line from outside his cubical… it really was a general statement and message to all of us. It hit really hard and home for me. I felt guilty, I felt mad and then the biggest winter storm I have ever dealt with in 10 years of living in Alaska hit and we lost power. I actually finished it up while we were sheltering in the basement one night. Looking up at Geoff I said “Oh honey, it was so horrible” and I had tears running down my face and he said why and I told him the premise and he said is it really horrible or is it because you feel horrible sometimes because you market all day long convincing people your authors are the best, their books are the best and they should buy something they may want but that they didn't necessarily need.

He was spot on. My grandfather talked about this all the time and he was a man of high integrity but he ran one of the biggest advertising companies on the West Coast I grew up the father is a boy or a mother as a special-ed teacher and a volunteer and parents were activist said who drove to support the arts in the Indies and a grandfather who wasn't in the advertising business and also who taught me to never stop learning how to do something which is why I know I do always with thanks but I'm going off of mine at any rate my grandfather always said that to be a mad man you really have to be a bastard in this industry.

I think this is one of those books which should be read this just for the wakeup call of the horrifying possibilities of where this world is headed. Told in a dark comedic fashion it could almost be a horror story and definitely fits the genre bending and challenge the synopsis promises.

Oh… PLEASE don't tell them don't tell them who told you about it because you know what happens to people tell you about the secrets behind the Program? Just, keep it to yourself *pointing* STOP looking so intently, just smile and laugh and say out loud “Oh that was a funny meme” they have eyes everywhere.. and remember… Well you didn't hear from me on to say *whispering*

8.5 stars out of 10