Bradley Somer

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 his mistress; 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." In the tradition of Garth Stein's The Art of Racing in the Rain and Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City, Bradley Somer's Fishbowl is at turns funny and heartbreaking.

A Novel

Fishbowl

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 gives 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.

Extinction

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.

Richard Trench finds himself with no arms and no legs, reduced to a torso in the trunk of a car. There is a reason. It all makes sense. The point is there somewhere . . . Imperfections elucidates the private lives of supermodels and circus freaks, sheiks and designer dominatrixes and the metamorphosis of the body chic. These are lives where the importance of vehicular mephitis-cide, a charity lobster boil for burn victims, a grilled-cheese sandwich with the face of the Virgin Mary toasted on it and a prophecy about the uncanny deaths of the voice-actors for Tigger and Piglet, can not be overlooked. Set in the world of glittering photo shoots in exotic locations, extreme visions of beauty and raucous fashion shows, Imperfections is a genre-bending novel that sits solidly in the foggy area between fact and fiction.

Imperfections

Goldfisch Ian fällt. Aus dem 27. Stock. Auf seinem Weg nach unten flie¬gen die Fenster des Hochhauses an ihm vorbei – und mit ihnen die Geschichten der Menschen, die dahinter wohnen. Während Ian immer schneller auf den Bürgersteig zurast, fiebern wir nicht nur mit ihm mit, sondern erhaschen gemeinsam mit ihm einen Blick auf die Schicksale dieser Menschen. Ein Leben wird dabei beginnen, eines enden, und am Schluss begreifen wir, dass das Glas, das uns vom Rest der Welt trennt, zerbrechlicher ist, als wir oft glauben. Dann wird auch klar, warum Ian eigentlich fällt – und was passiert, wenn er landet. In ›Der Tag, an dem der Goldfisch aus dem 27. Stock fiel‹ geht es buchstäblich um Leben und Tod. Bradley Somer klappt das Haus in der Roxy Street auf wie eine Puppenstube und erweckt die Figuren darin auf wunderbar liebe-volle, spielerische und humorvolle Weise zum Leben. Ein Buch, so glanzvoll und schillernd wie ein Goldfisch – oder wie das Leben selbst.

Bradley Somer

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