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Life in a Fishbowl by Len Vlahos (view source)
Revision as of 13:22, 10 December 2016
, 13:22, 10 December 2016Created page with " {{infobox |title=Life in a Fishbowl |sort= |author=Len Vlahos |reviewer=Jill Murphy |genre=Teens |summary=A story of terminal illness combined with a satire of reality TV. Q..."
{{infobox
|title=Life in a Fishbowl
|sort=
|author=Len Vlahos
|reviewer=Jill Murphy
|genre=Teens
|summary=A story of terminal illness combined with a satire of reality TV. Quite the combination! A tricky one to pull off, but Vlahos manages admirably and has written a touching, engaging novel that gives a great deal of pause for thought.
|rating=4
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=336
|publisher=Bloomsbury
|website=http://www.lenvlahos.com/
|date=January 2017
|isbn=1408870630
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408870630</amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>B01M2BO90I</amazonus>
|video=znJOjeAUtaU
}}
Jared Stone has been diagnosed with a brain tumour. It's inoperable and he has only a few months left to live. Desperate to ensure financial security for his family after he's gone, Jared decides to auction himself - the rest of his life, his death, everything - on eBay for a reserve price of one million dollars. Unsurprisingly, eBay cancels the auction as against their terms and conditions but that's okay because Jared has come to the attention of a reality TV producer...
... Jared has also come to the attention of other people. There's his family - wife Deidre and daughters Megan and Jackie. There's a psychopathic billionaire who would just ''love'' to have a human life in only his hands. There's a lonely gaming enthusiast and a hardhearted nun. And there's a boy in Russia who is quite good at video-editing. All of these people will have a part to play in the last weeks of the life of a genuinely good man.
Goodness me, but ''Life in a Fishbowl'' has a veritable cornucopia of themes. It covers terminal illness, the grief associated with it, assisted dying, sibling rivalry, online gaming communities, reality TV, greed in a consumerist world and, well, that's enough to be going on with but it isn't all of it. Getting all this into a YA story you've decided to tell through multiple viewpoints is some ambition. And it's to the credit of Len Vlahos that he has achieved it. He even manages to credibly anthropomorphise a high-grade glioblastoma multiforme! This novel could have been a mess but it really wasn't. It read well and the overall narrative was clear. While authorial tone came over a little too loud and clear at times, there are many moments of genuine profundity. I felt for the Stones, even for Megan, the selfish, attention-seeking sibling. And the way in which the terminally-ill Jared Stone gradually slipped away from the reader as well as his family was beautifully done.
I don't want to say too much more because this is the kind of story you need to read for yourself. It's not always an easy read but it is occasionally a very funny one and also touching. But, most importantly, it gives a great deal of pause for thought. How ''real'' is reality TV? Not very, probably. What is the best way for a life to end? Is there even a one-size-fits-all answer to that question? Probably not.
''Life in a Fishbowl'' is one for the open-hearted reader who is ready to be challenged with difficult questions. And, having been around YA readers for a long time now, I know there are plenty of them out there.
[[Henry Tumour by Anthony McGowan]] also features an anthropomorphised tumour. It's a dark comedy and it's hilarious. Younger readers who might enjoy a satire of reality TV could look at [[Kid Swap (Jiggy McCue) by Michael Lawrence]].
{{amazontext|amazon=1408870630}}
{{amazonUStext|amazon=B01M2BO90I}}
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