On the HahaFiction shelf
Fishbowl
by Bradley Somer
Ian, a goldfish, falls from a balcony on the twenty-seventh floor. The glimpses he gets on the way down open into the lives of the people in the building. Over the course of a day there’s a boy who thinks he can travel through time, a woman on bed rest, and a superintendent who feels as if nobody sees him.
From the publisher’s blurb
“at turns funny and heartbreaking”Read the full description at St. Martin’s Press
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What makes it funny?
Once the elevator breaks, there’s a much better chance of bumping into somebody you would rather avoid. Katie takes the stairs and passes the woman her boyfriend has been seeing. The woman is wearing Katie’s nightshirt.
The comedy at work
The fall lets Somer move from one household to another before we have time to get comfortable in any of them. The stairwell then does some of the same work inside the building, putting people in each other’s path when they expect to handle their problems in private.
Try this if…
The goldfish gives the book an odd way in, and the company is mostly human. Pick it for an ensemble story that has room for an awkward encounter in the hallway and for people who are lonely enough to need a neighbor.
More funny contemporary
Sources & further reading
- Kirkus Reviews: book review
Review
- Bradley Somer: book description
Author commentary
- St. Martin’s Press: reading guide
Publisher
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