Rashtriya Newsflash

Author C.D. Matthews releases Smiling Box Monster, a satirical novel that follows Bennington Slipdale, III, an overqualified man who takes a delivery job with a massive e commerce company during the pandemic. Struggling with demanding routes, relentless metrics, and a deep fear of failure, Bennington attempts to survive the new economy while confronting his own anxieties and uncertain future.

Blending humor with social commentary, Smiling Box Monster offers readers an inside look at the pressures faced by delivery drivers and warehouse workers while charting one man’s personal reckoning in a system that rarely slows down. Matthews presents a story that is both entertaining and unsettling, inviting readers to question the true cost of convenience in a world driven by instant gratification.

The novel explores the toll of modern gig labor and corporate efficiency on the individual, portraying workers as expendable parts within a vast global machine. Matthews draws parallels to classic works of social critique, positioning Smiling Box Monster as a contemporary counterpart to Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle in its examination of systemic labor exploitation.

Readers are confronted with the daily realities inside delivery vans, warehouses, trucks, and cargo planes, as Bennington struggles to maintain his humanity and self worth amid impossible expectations.

C.D. Matthews is a graduate of the University of Michigan and spent his first career as an investigative journalist with the Daily Southtown in Chicago before devoting three decades to teaching subjects ranging from preschool to AP Calculus. Smiling Box Monster is his first published novel in a planned trilogy, and he has also written three short stories inspired by childhood experiences with his eccentric father.

Matthews recently adapted Smiling Box Monster into a screenplay and a one act play that ran at The Annoyance Theater in Chicago in September 2025, in which he portrayed the lead role of Bennington Slipdale, III in his stage debut. He is currently writing a prequel to the novel and continues to pursue acting while auditioning for new theatrical productions.

Media Contact
Company Name: Global Book Network
Contact Person: Henry Zane
Email: Send Email
Country: United States
Website: https://www.globalbooknetwork.tv/