What readers think of Fishbowl, plus links to write your own review.

Such a creative take on life. The writing was well done and the characters were interesting and flawed, yet still likable. Such a cool book. Wish more people were reading this!!

I enjoyed this book -- a bittersweet story. I found the characters to be interesting and very resourceful people -- true survivors. Most of the characters were living a single life with some experiencing loneliness and struggles with their relationships. You get an ongoing glimpse of the characters lives and their issues as Ian the goldfish makes his descent from the 27th floor to the ground while glancing into their apartments. The format reminded me of the film "Rear Window" (minus the murder). I loved the little goldfish decending in the right page margin as you read through the book - clever touch! I recommend this book.

What a great new idea for a book. Really enjoyed reading it. Hope author continues to write.

This book was written from quite a different point of view than any I had read before...a fish as he plunges 27 floors of an apartment building. The author does an amazing job of describing the building and all the tenants as Ian has a glimpse of each of the lives as he plunges to what was sure to be his death.
This was not a book that I couldn't put down, but each time I picked it back up I became more engrossed in the story line.

What I found most enjoyable was the final chapter where the characters are all summed up even into what was to happen in the future. It was nice to enjoy full closure. The only part that was a little odd was that of Ian the fishes outcome.

What a clever work of fiction with lovely attention to detail - right down to the visual descent of Ian along the edge of the printed pages as you thumb quickly through the book. Somehow being a fish makes voyeurism okay and I was more than willing to go along for the ride. Poignant, funny, lovely and sad - all of the secret lives we live and try to hide in the boxes we inhabit are suddenly laid bare but in such a tender and reverent way. Individual stories are woven together masterfully into a storyline that makes sense, leads to a logical culmination and neatly mirrors how our own closely-knit communities are intertwined. Loved it!

Ian shows us what living in a fishbowl is truly like as he briefly views the residents' stories unfolding on the 27 floors of the Seville on Roxie. I found this to be a great story which made me laugh out loud and wipe a few tears from my eyes.

Complete with a flip book...can't sat I've seen one of those in a while...Brandley Somer hooked me from page one. His book is well written. The characters are well developed. I will be recommending this to my friends as soon as it is available to them,

The opening box simile lets one immediately know this is not your usual narrative. Factoids throughout were fascinating and fun. The engaging chapter headings were a delight. The clever weaving of characters' stories quickly ensnared me. I soon cared about the fates of the apartment dwellers a la The Elegance of the Hedgehog. I loved how the author commented on and played with time throughout the novel. The glimpses of life stories years ahead (and behind) for certain ones were succinct and satisfying.

I hesitated to read (goldfish falling by apartment windows? Jonathan Livingston Goldfish taking a plunge?) this book, and was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I'm eager to share it with my circle of friends. Once I started reading I kept coming back to it. "Now, what was I doing?"

This novel was entirely enjoyable. Fishbowl is a metaphor for the apartment building "Seville on Roxy". In this novel we get a small snippet of the life of many of the residents who live in this apartment building and they are all wildly original characters. From cross dressers to a child with seizures to a agoraphobe (and many other interesting residents) we get a peak into their private lives briefly through the eyes of our hero protagonist, Ian the goldfish. It is an original premise, well written and a lot of fun to read.