Fishbowl
A Novel
-
- USD 11.99
-
- USD 11.99
Descripción editorial
A goldfish named Ian is falling from the 27th-floor balcony on which his fishbowl sits. He's longed for adventure, so when the opportunity arises, he escapes from his bowl, clears the balcony railing and finds himself airborne. Plummeting toward the street below, Ian witnesses the lives of the Seville on Roxy residents.
There's the handsome grad student, his girlfriend, and the other woman; the construction worker who feels trapped by a secret; the building's super who feels invisible and alone; the pregnant woman on bed rest who craves a forbidden ice cream sandwich; the shut-in for whom dirty talk, and quiche, are a way of life; and home-schooled Herman, a boy who thinks he can travel through time. Though they share time and space, they have something even more important in common: each faces a decision that will affect the course of their lives. Within the walls of the Seville are stories of love, new life, and death, of facing the ugly truth of who one has been and the beautiful truth of who one can become.
Sometimes taking a risk is the only way to move forward with our lives. As Ian the goldfish knows, "An entire life devoted to a fishbowl will make one die an old fish with not one adventure had."
Bradley Somer's Fishbowl is at turns funny and heartbreaking and you will, no doubt, fall in love with his unforgettable characters.
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.
