Fishbowl: A Novel, by Bradley Somer
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Fishbowl: A Novel, by Bradley Somer
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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.
Fishbowl: A Novel, by Bradley Somer- Amazon Sales Rank: #66054 in Audible
- Published on: 2015-09-15
- Released on: 2015-09-15
- Format: Unabridged
- Original language: English
- Running time: 534 minutes
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Most helpful customer reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful. Funny, Quirky, Sometimes Poignant - A Wonderful Novel Involving Ian, the Goldfish, and Others Who Are Not Nearly as Wise ... By delicateflower152 Bradley Somer’s novel “Fishbowl” is quirky, funny, and touching. Ian lives alone, with the exception of Troy the snail, in his "Fishbowl" on the 27th and top floor of the Seville on Roxy. Given to Connor Radley by his most recent girlfriend Katie, Ian is named for his childhood best friend, a golden retriever. As the novel moves forward, Ian is falling through the air toward the earth.The other individuals, who live in the high-rise, and Connor – as well as Katie who frequently spends the night - form an eclectic group of people who each face their own issues and must learn that no one can exist alone and in a vacuum. Garth, a burly construction worker, harbors a secret. Herman, an orphan living with his grandfather, blacks out under stress. Claire, an agoraphobic – or as she prefers to be called “aggressively introverted” individual – is a now unemployed phone sex worker. Petunia Delilah, a hair stylist who lives with her boyfriend Danny, is pregnant and must avoid strenuous activity. Jimenez, who maintains the Seville on Roxy, lives on its third floor.Fifty-five short chapters make up the text of “Fishbowl”; chapter titles have a melodramatic tone and seem as if they were from the silent film era. The introductory chapter feels as if it could be one of two things – the “majestic” introductory text of a film that is being narrated by James Earl Jones, or a novel that is actually “…a dissertation in progress…” Subsequent chapters are arranged in groups of seven, Ian’s chapters begin each grouping. In these chapters, observations of and comments about life and living from Ian's perspective take center stage. Ian’s chapters form the thread that helps bind the lives of the other characters into a cohesive story. Further, the narratives in Ian's chapters are the most poignant as the discourse highlights the isolation of his fishbowl and the loneliness of his almost solitary life. Readers will quickly recognize Ian’s narrative applies to the isolated apartment living of the primarily solitary characters.Chapters focusing on or involving each of the primary human characters follow those focusing on Ian. As Ian descends toward earth, each of the chapters reveals details of and secrets about the individual who is the focus of the chapter. The failure of the building's elevators to operate, results in the characters having to use the stairs or to rely on other tenants instead of existing cocooned in their own apartments. This makes the real point of “Fishbowl” clear.Bradley Somer is an extraordinary author. Not only is he able to write a unique, engaging story, he does so using a broad vocabulary and complex, well-crafted sentences. Because it uses an unusually rich vocabulary, you may need to have a dictionary nearby in order to appreciate every nuance and every idea presented. Readers will enjoy his refreshing style that is so different from much of contemporary literature. Readers should be aware that “Fishbowl” does contain sexual situations and references, as well as some profanity.I loved “Fishbowl” and readers who enjoy a novel that is not simply a cookie-cutter work of fiction will definitely want to include “Fishbowl” when choosing what to read next.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Ian, the goldfish, takes the ultimate leap of faith. Poor Ian. By Miss Barbara Fishbowl has been my favorite book so far this year. It’s a simple story: There is a big apartment house and a fish named Ian falls from his bowl on the 27th floor. Now, you take that premise and put it in the hands of an author as capable as Bradley Somer and you have yourself a rollicking, funny, sexy, tragic slice of life seen as Ian takes his nose-dive.The book can almost be told with the longish epigrams that start each chapter i.e.: Chapter 4 “In Which We Meet the Villain Connor and the Evil Seductress Faye”. Or Chapter 26 “In Which Homeschooled Herman Witnesses His First Life-Altering Moment”. There is a lot of the unique humorous style of Douglas Adams (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) or Graeme Simsion (The Rosie Project) going on in this book.The residents of The Seville on Roxy are laid out cafeteria style for the reader’s enjoyment – a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Ian, the goldfish was a gift to Connor by his girlfriend Katie. Unfortunately there is a third point on this love triangle, namely the evil Faye. Among other residents in the building there is the super Jimenez who feels invisible and under-appreciated ; Petunia Delilah who is pregnant with sudden tingles in her nether regions; There is a shut-in who has a penchant for naughty words; and Herman, who is quite sure he can travel through time. In all, The Seville on Roxy is a microcosm of life in the Big City. Ian, the goldfish, may be the only one in the building that is willing to take a risk.One last comment: Great story, great concept, great writing BUT my favorite part of the book is that on the far right hand margin each page has a tiny ink goldfish that if the pages are flipped will plunge down the column like Ian plummeting from the 27th floor. When is the last time you’ve found a “Flip-book”? There is so much I’d love to relate about this book but I can only urge you to read it and hopefully enjoy it as much as I.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Life inside a box (and outside a fishbowl) By TChris Fishbowl is "a glimpse into the box" that is called the Seville on Roxy. The box contains "the perpetual presence of life itself."We are told in chapter 2 that Ian the goldfish will plunge from a 27th floor balcony in chapter 54. We are also told that Troy the snail, who stays safely in the bowl, lives the kind of uneventful life that usually assures dull longevity, while Ian is an adventurer who has always yearned to go beyond the limits of his fishbowl. Is it better to die as "an old fish without one adventure had"? Of course not. Ian is no snail.The story's main characters are people, which is fortunate since Ian, while a pleasant goldfish, doesn't have much personality. Katie is Connor Radley's girlfriend. Katie falls in love quickly and often, usually with the wrong men. Connor clearly falls into the "bad boyfriend" category, as most of his multiple sex partners understand, but maybe he has unmined depths. Or maybe not.Conner lives in the Seville, as do the other main characters: Jiminez the super, Petunia Delilah the pregnant woman who is about to give birth, Garth the construction worker who can't wait to transform himself with the contents of a mysterious package, Claire the "aggressively introverted" (not to say agoraphobic) shut-in who gets paid for phone sex, and Homeschooled Herman who suffers from blackouts that he regards as proof of teleportation and time travel.The main characters are tied together not just by their residence in Seville but by the failure of both elevators to function properly for the half hour during which the story takes place. In a series of short chapters, the narrative jumps from character to character (including, occasionally, Ian). As Ian falls, we are treated to brief descriptions of the lives of apartment dwellers (main characters and others) as he plunges past their windows.The Seville is a building full of lonely people who, in different ways, don't quite know how to connect with the world. Some of them become a little less lonely by the novel's end. Others become a little lonelier but they learn about themselves in the process. Some learn that overcoming loneliness requires "an uncomfortable exposure to let oneself be true in the presence of another."The characters are all struggling to give definition to their lives. They want to be happy. They aren't certain how to accomplish that end but they know that things need to change. To a large extent, Fishbowl is about finding the courage to change a life, to find yourself while finding the freedom to be yourself.The story is very funny but it is also sweet and occasionally touching in ways that are both genuine and original. It is also a smart and insightful look at how people can have multiple identities at the same time, each of them real, all of them assembling into a complicated and contradictory whole. Fishbowl is a wonderful novel of birth and death and everything in between, all revealed in a thirty minute glimpse into a box that "fills up with infinitely thin layers of experience," layers so thin that there will always be room for the box to hold an infinity of new and eventful experiences as its residents live their separate lives together.
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