Fishbowl
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3.4 • 5 Ratings
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- £7.99
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- £7.99
Publisher Description
Even a goldfish can dream of adventure…
From his enviable view from a balcony on the 27th floor of an apartment block, Ian the Goldfish has frequent – if fleeting – desires for a more exciting life. Until one day, a series of unfortunate events give him an opportunity to escape…
Our story begins, however, with the human inhabitants of Ian’s building. There is the handsome student, his girlfriend, and his mistress; an agoraphobic sex worker, the invisible caretaker; the pregnant woman on bed rest; and the home-schooled boy, Herman, who thinks he can travel through time.
And as Ian tumbles perilously downwards, he will witness all their lives, loves, triumphs and disasters…
A truly original, philosophically joyful and charming novel with the unlikeliest of heroes. This is Tales of the City as seen by a goldfish.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Ian the goldfish has a positive attitude and a limited attention span. Bradley Somer’s playful novel takes its cue from this scaled character, who lives on the 27th floor of an apartment building called The Seville on Roxy. Each chapter of Fishbowl gives us a quick peek into the small and large dramas unfolding within The Seville, with separate episodes clicking together to build up to Ian’s unfortunate skydiving incident. We zipped through this hugely entertaining story, guided by an all-knowing, philosophical narrator who provides chapter titles like “8: In Which Claire the Shut-In Receives a Mysterious Buzz from the Front Door”.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Somer's (Imperfections) confident second novel combines a rare glimpse into the mind of an adventurous goldfish with ambitious musings on the nature of time and space. Set within the confines of a street and an apartment building the Seville on Roxy the action begins with Ian the goldfish free-falling toward the sidewalk, not knowing where he's headed (his mantra is "having a plan is the first step toward failure"). During his descent, he sees flashes of the lives being lived inside the Seville. The narrative deftly switches from Ian's point of view to that of the residents; each vignette is described several times, from the eyes of the different characters involved. Under scrutiny are the romantic entanglements of Connor Radley, Ian's owner; the ire of Connor's girlfriend, Katie; the dilemma of Claire the shut-in receiving a knock at her door from a pregnant Petunia Delilah; and the secret life of Garth, a construction worker with a mysterious package. Enjoyable touches of farce and wry asides abound, underscoring moments of reckoning in eccentric, yet deeply human, dilemmas.
