Review: `My plan to enlightenment'
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 26, 2014
Paul Matarelli is probably as fascinating a man in personas the fictional character he has created in this debut novel, the anti-hero Jamie Hayden.  Originally from a family of musicians in Illinois he followed that genetic propensity for loving music to New York City where he interned at Epic Records and mingled with the rock stars. Paul is a media professional having worked for some of the largest media companies in New York as an account executive, sales associate and media buyer, serving clients such as Humana, Mylan, Bristol Myers Squibb, Wal-Mart, P&G;, Kraft, General Mills, Capital One, Sharp and Comcast, an entrepreneur, a musician and now an author. He has been through the life he recreates in his novel and his insights and descriptive attention to detail make the story far more fascinating to read. Noting that the book was originally copyrighted in 2009 and only now joins the eBook market courtesy of Amazon makes us wonder if in the intervening five years he may have penned more books we can anticipate. In his Acknowledgments section he states `I love the anti-hero heroes in our society. None of us are perfect and none of us have a road map to this life. Be yourself and  Do You.  Our time here is short.  Do what you love, do what moves you, and be good to each other the best that  you can. I'll endeavor to do the same.' And we note, `While Paul may not be hopping off the corporate ladder any time soon, he does believe just as his fictional creation Jamie Hayden does, that our time is not promised. In this spirit, Paul has created Money Clock, the first app that shows users how much money they are making real time.'`I'm Jamie Hayden, and I'll be your guide through this story; or as I like to call it, my path to enlightenment,' our main character tells us in the midst of a sexual liaison with a married woman topped with weed and champagne. Jamie is a corporate type, fine education, cushy job, and yet unsatisfied that this may be all there is to life. His purview is that of a lothario, bedding every woman of lust he meets along the way. Matarelli is a polished pro at describing lust and the permutations of sexual fulfillment (read `graphic') and he has Jamie representing that mental state of what it is like to be chained to a corporate cubical and the means of stopping outside that box. `How do you know when you're supposed to stop what you're doing and change course? I did everything they tell you to do: I went to college, got my degree, and landed a great job. I get wined and dined in the best restaurants New York City has to offer, I do the minimum amount of work that's required, I take long lunches, I meet celebrities, and I negotiate multi-million dollar television ad deals hung over. If I continue on this path, I will become a wealthy corporate executive...and miserable. What they don't prepare you for - in all of the canned speeches you hear about your future - is truth about what you're getting yourself into. The truth is you will be dealing with disgruntled bosses, office politics, vindictive colleagues, and the crippling reality that you are going to spend the best years of your life chained to a desk doing work that will ultimately leave this world worse off than when you arrived.' How Matarelli elects to resolve this conflict makes for one strongly interesting read and a fine take on the society we have created. He truly should write another book - or several! Grady Harp, February 14