Not Well is told from the perspective of the reader, where "you" are in the driver's seat. The secret thoughts we all hide when the day doesn't go as expected are brought out of the darkness and into the light. Relationships, jobs, everyday life is exposed in cold truth. Over the course of a five day work week, the reader is pulled down into an insane world of what a person truly feels, thinks, and believes. But what happens when those dark ideas and impulses are embraced and you allow everything to be infected by your darkness? It is humorous, sarcastic, dark, suspenseful and most importantly it reveals the inner demons of us all. Jamie Curtis Baker writes a bleak truth in this compelling story he materialized from his own personal work experience and relationship interactions. Excerpt: "Barren limbs sway in the sober winter air like fingers stretching to steal heaven. The wind collaborates with silence to warn of frozen thoughts to come. This is where the bitterness of the bad harvest comes back to haunt the farmer. This is where a simple job like staring at a computer screen in a 6X9 cubicle can put an itch in a man like a bad mosquito bite. You sit at your desk, listening to the drone of fluorescent lights and the buzz of a slow turning computer fan. There’s a girl behind you talking on the phone. Mindless chatter. Endless chatter. It makes you feel guilty about not calling your wife more. But that doesn’t matter. It’s a Monday. It always seems like a Monday in places like this. You haven’t moved in well over ten minutes. Your hands sit in your lap and your eyes sit in their sockets. You can sense rather than see your boss, three cubes away, occasionally looking over the top to give you unhappy glances. She wants you working. They always want you working in places like this. You try to imagine what your boss is like outside of work. What kind of car she drives. What kind of guys she sleeps with. What kind of soul she has. Then you wonder about your own soul. About whether being agnostic even gives you the right to a soul. You try to imagine what your soul would look like. In your mind you visualize a deep grave surrounded by snow. The hole is twice as deep as it should be. At the bottom there’s a skeleton smiling back at you with a wide, toothless grin. You don’t shiver though. The dead don’t feel the cold. It’s a gray day; a dark afternoon. Smells like it could rain. Flies buzz around your head like vultures circling road kill. You close your eyes and fall head first down the hole."
Not Well
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Jamie Curtis Baker is an American writer who splits his time between reality and flights of fantasy. He resides in Greenfield, IN with his wife, step-son, and a dog named Ripley.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By JKEP
Format:Kindle Edition
When I first started reading this book, I thought that the author was onto something that many people feel from time to time in their personal and professional lives. Being at work and sitting at your desk (at times) trying to stay focused and finding yourself wondering so many things as mentioned here. How many times have you wished for a better life, wondered what else could go wrong, wishing that the upper management or fellow employees would treat you better, etc.
This author has put down in words what some only dream about, cannot or won't voice. The character seems to be on autopilot, going through the motions each day--getting up, going to work, coming home, etc. You find that he does want to be recognized for his abilities, but also does not want to be taken advantage of as his sister does in this story. When he has to identify her body after a tragedy he shows the emotions that have been built up over time and circumstances throughout the his life and even though she made incorrect choices, he still can feel for her life that has gone wrong somewhere along the line.
The author describes each situation, each day with the character by words that make you feel the pain, the sense of hopelessness and even anger building up inside. When it comes to the point of no return, you feel the emotions rise up in the character and finally released due to a betrayal of someone he loved. He is finally feel free for the first time in a long time and before he is captured meets another who knows what he is feeling and understands. He knows she will appreciate her time, family and friends even more after witnessing this tragedy he has caused.
I feel this could be a great movie with the dreams, disappointments and unexpected way a day may turn out or how we all feel at some point in our lives but don't always go to this extreme to make our point. The words used are very powerful and they make you feel each emotion, each let down and every struggle that the character feels. It will leave you wanting to better your life knowing a wiser choice can be made if faced with the same in your own life.
This author has put down in words what some only dream about, cannot or won't voice. The character seems to be on autopilot, going through the motions each day--getting up, going to work, coming home, etc. You find that he does want to be recognized for his abilities, but also does not want to be taken advantage of as his sister does in this story. When he has to identify her body after a tragedy he shows the emotions that have been built up over time and circumstances throughout the his life and even though she made incorrect choices, he still can feel for her life that has gone wrong somewhere along the line.
The author describes each situation, each day with the character by words that make you feel the pain, the sense of hopelessness and even anger building up inside. When it comes to the point of no return, you feel the emotions rise up in the character and finally released due to a betrayal of someone he loved. He is finally feel free for the first time in a long time and before he is captured meets another who knows what he is feeling and understands. He knows she will appreciate her time, family and friends even more after witnessing this tragedy he has caused.
I feel this could be a great movie with the dreams, disappointments and unexpected way a day may turn out or how we all feel at some point in our lives but don't always go to this extreme to make our point. The words used are very powerful and they make you feel each emotion, each let down and every struggle that the character feels. It will leave you wanting to better your life knowing a wiser choice can be made if faced with the same in your own life.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By DXTR1999
Format:Kindle Edition
This was one of the first books I bought on my kindle. I heard about it on Twitter and wanted to check it out. The story is killer!!! I think the author must have been reading my mind when he wrote parts of this! I really think this is a story that everyone can relate to in one way or another. I would've paid triple for this novel, that's how much I loved it!!!
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
When it comes to impacting the reader emotionally, Baker has absolutely nailed it. His debut novella sucks you into its whirling vortex from the first page and spits you out at the end feeling bruised and queasy. And unless you're interrupted by something impossible to ignore, like a house fire or terrorist attack, you'll read to the bitter end in one sitting.
With the beautiful gift the author exhibits, I'd love to give the book five stars. But somewhere past the halfway point, the subject matter became so disturbing I had to skim through it quickly to see how it ended without getting too involved in the horror of the events. I wouldn't call the sex and violence gratuitous, because it's necessary to the story, not shoehorned in for shock value. But it's graphic, and it's disturbing, and if you're prone to nightmares, this is good fodder.
The book is unquestionably well written; the author's ability is impressive, and the typical errors of the novice writer are absent here. It's just a shame that it's not a story I can recommend to my friends.
With the beautiful gift the author exhibits, I'd love to give the book five stars. But somewhere past the halfway point, the subject matter became so disturbing I had to skim through it quickly to see how it ended without getting too involved in the horror of the events. I wouldn't call the sex and violence gratuitous, because it's necessary to the story, not shoehorned in for shock value. But it's graphic, and it's disturbing, and if you're prone to nightmares, this is good fodder.
The book is unquestionably well written; the author's ability is impressive, and the typical errors of the novice writer are absent here. It's just a shame that it's not a story I can recommend to my friends.
