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Ebook295 pages4 hours
Life in a Fishbowl
By Len Vlahos
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
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About this ebook
Fifteen-year-old Jackie Stone's father is dying.
When Jackie discovers that her father has been diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor, her whole world starts to crumble. She can't imagine how she'll live without him . . .
Then, in a desperate act to secure his family's future, Jackie's father does the unthinkable--he puts his life up for auction on eBay. Jackie can do nothing but watch and wait as an odd assortment of bidders, some with nefarious intentions, drive the price up higher. The fate of her entire family hangs in the balance.
But no one can predict how the auction will finally end, or any of the very public fallout that ensues. Life as Jackie knows it is about to change forever . . .
In this brilliantly written tragicomedy told through multiple points of view--including Jackie's dad's tumor--acclaimed author Len Vlahos deftly explores what it really means to live.
"A weird, sardonic delight with the shape of an allegory and the heart of a joyful song."
--Brenna Yovanoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Replacement
"Surprising, original, political, and deeply affecting . . . It is one of those rare works of art that keeps you guessing up to the very last page."
--Leila Sales, author of This Song Will Save Your Life
"It will tear you apart, and yet it's an absolute joy."
--Adi Alsaid, author of Let's Get Lost and Never, Always, Sometimes
When Jackie discovers that her father has been diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor, her whole world starts to crumble. She can't imagine how she'll live without him . . .
Then, in a desperate act to secure his family's future, Jackie's father does the unthinkable--he puts his life up for auction on eBay. Jackie can do nothing but watch and wait as an odd assortment of bidders, some with nefarious intentions, drive the price up higher. The fate of her entire family hangs in the balance.
But no one can predict how the auction will finally end, or any of the very public fallout that ensues. Life as Jackie knows it is about to change forever . . .
In this brilliantly written tragicomedy told through multiple points of view--including Jackie's dad's tumor--acclaimed author Len Vlahos deftly explores what it really means to live.
"A weird, sardonic delight with the shape of an allegory and the heart of a joyful song."
--Brenna Yovanoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Replacement
"Surprising, original, political, and deeply affecting . . . It is one of those rare works of art that keeps you guessing up to the very last page."
--Leila Sales, author of This Song Will Save Your Life
"It will tear you apart, and yet it's an absolute joy."
--Adi Alsaid, author of Let's Get Lost and Never, Always, Sometimes
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Author
Len Vlahos
Len Vlahos has held leadership positions with the American Booksellers Association and Book Industry Study Group (BISG) and co-owns The Tattered Cover bookstore in Denver, CO. His novel The Scar Boys was a finalist for the William C. Morris YA Debut Award.
Read more from Len Vlahos
Life in a Fishbowl Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Scar Boys Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Scar Girl Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
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Reviews for Life in a Fishbowl
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
16 ratings4 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5AFter being diagnosed with a fatal brain cancer, Jared Stone decides to secure his family's financial future by selling the rest of his life to the highest bidder. His family finds themselves living under the scrutiny of television cameras 24 hours a day with the footage being edited for a reality tv show. Jared's oldest daughter, Jackie, decides to take the network on.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jared is diagnosed with an inoperable brain cancer. He puts his life up for bid on eBay, hoping to leave his wife and two daughters with some money after he is gone. Jackie finds out about her dad's health through the eBay post. The winning bidder is a reality TV producer with aspirations of climbing the corporate ladder. The family's life is put on tv. Jackie doesn't like the fish bowl and wants to fight back. She does so by capturing footage of the "reality" of reality tv. All the bidders and even the tumor, Glio, tell the story in this third person narrative. A unique book with interesting perspectives.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fifteen-year-old Jackie Stone learns that her father has a terminal brain tumor and it rocks her world. Worse yet, her father, Jared, attempts to auction his life on eBay in order to secure his family’s finances after his death. He is soon delisted by eBay (it’s against their policy to auction off a life) but not before there are some bidders, who somehow manage to discover who the person behind the listing is and Jackie's father is afterwards contacted by them. I liked the way the family Stone struggle unfolds, advancing in multiple points of view without the plot seeming chaotic. The story opens with a prologue, then moves forward, not in short chapters but in six titled parts – example, Part One, “Meet the Bidders” and the reader is then introduced to secondary supporting characters. Also, in a clever use of imagination, even the brain tumor itself, a glioblastoma multiforme, named Glio, weighs in and provides the backstory of Jared Stone’s life as Glio eats away at Jared’s brain and memories. Both tender and tragic, while also being told with humor and honesty, LIFE IN A FISHBOWL is a skillfully structured book. It presents the issues of death with dignity and euthanasia in a careful and understated way. Plus, Jackie Stone, a gutsy, girl protagonist, aided by a memorable band of other young adult characters, manages to set some of our twenty-first century's wrongs to rights. Praiseworthy and heartening, YA readers and, I think, those of all ages will find this story uplifting.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5YA is a genre that has largely passed me by but I liked the premise of Life in a Fishbowl and thought I’d take a look. I’m glad I did.Jared Stone, an Oregon state senator, is working on an assisted dying bill when he discovers he has a terminal brain tumour (glioblastoma multiforme). He doesn’t immediately tell his family, but he considers the financial implications of his death and decides, for their sake, to auction what remains of his life on eBay.The novel follows the impact of events on his family – in particular his sensitive, lonely fifteen-year-old daughter Jackie (whose response contrasts with her pretty, popular younger sister Megan) and four people who make a bid for Jared’s life, for very different reasons.Life in a Fishbowl succeeds in treading a very difficult line – it is full of absurdist humour but it also has compassion and doesn’t shrink from difficult issues such as bereavement and assisted dying.It takes in a lot of zeitgeisty themes – reality TV, computer games, PR, as well as perennial topics such as the torment of not being popular at school. As you’d expect, Jackie is the focus of the novel (presumably because sensitive, lonely girls read more books than pretty, popular ones) but we get the perspectives of all the family.Even the tumour, ‘Glio’, is anthropomorphised. I thought at first this might be too cute, but it means the author can show Jared’s memories as Glio devours them, and gives us Jared’s thoughts at a time when he cannot articulate them.Life in a Fishbowl shines a satirical light on contemporary culture but also has great warmth. It is funny, engaging and full of life.*I received a copy of Life in a Fishbowl from the publisher via Netgalley.