“The Room Already There” by Gerry Cota

The Room Already There

Gerry Cota
MUBU Publishing (2026)
ISBN: 979-8996008216
Reviewed by Ada Jenkins for Reader Views (08/2026)

Have you ever wondered if there’s more to life than facts and logic? As someone who has, at times, struggled to follow my intuition, The Room Already There by Gerry Cota spoke to me on a personal level, encouraging me to think more deeply.

The central character in this deeply reflective novel is a thirty-seven-year-old entrepreneur who stumbles upon an unusual business model while visiting Seattle. Although this character is nameless throughout, I felt an immediate connection with him. Through first-person perspective, I was given intimate access to his innermost thoughts and feelings. He’s a logical person, torn between sticking to what’s known and venturing into new horizons. For example, in chapter two, he sets up a spreadsheet to help him weigh up whether or not he should go to Seattle: “The spreadsheet had said go, and some part of me that lived below the spreadsheet had said stay, and I had listened to the part that lived below.” I know what it’s like to get this sort of gut feeling and could relate to his way of thinking.

I have to say, I found the special creative space that the narrator enters into very intriguing indeed! The atmosphere of mystery surrounding it (and its elusive, unnamed owner) kept me absorbed throughout. I liked the engaging descriptions and sense of déjà vu that permeates the central character’s experience as the narrative switches back and forth between past and present. For instance, in chapter eight, there’s a description of the feeling that it’s destiny that has brought the colorful characters who share this room together, not coincidence: “A sense that some future you had not yet met was reaching backward and telling you where to go.”

The narrative structure is non-linear. The author uses flashbacks to explore key epiphanies in the protagonist’s path where he felt his life could have gone one way or another. For example, he recalls being at a friend’s house at age seventeen, where he experienced an uncanny moment of strangeness, much like déjà vu, but somehow different and undefinable. However, instead of recognizing this moment for what it was, he discounted it.

For me, what makes this a philosophically intriguing book is that we’ve all experienced these sorts of moments in life, but have oftentimes dismissed them. It’s only through looking back that we recognize them in retrospect.

The unfolding metaphor of the room really got me thinking as the story progressed. The room helps the central character let go of what’s been holding him back, to release himself from external pressures and demands. I also felt that it helped him to become more spontaneous and more open-minded in his thinking.

I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Gerry Cota’s The Room Already There to readers who enjoy literary fiction or contemporary fiction with an underlying philosophical theme. This unusual story got me thinking on a deeper level. I can see myself rereading it in the future and gaining new insights as I go along.