The past year has undoubtedly been a fantastic run for new fiction, with titles such as Theo of Golden, Katabasis, and Yesteryear, along with a multitude of other new and incredible novels. I had been stuck in deciding what my favorite new read was, until I sat down and read Josh Silver’s Fruit Fly.
With Fruit Fly having over 21,000 ratings on goodreads in just over a month of publishing, along with an overall 4.2/5 rating, Silver’s novel stands for itself. But, if that isn’t enough to convince you to pick up the book, I thought I would give you a non-spoiler review of Fruit Fly.
The Setup
Silver’s novel is undoubtedly contemporary. The story starts with the main character Mallory, hiding in a bathroom and playing candy crush while she is supposed to be hosting a party for her husband. Though I (and many people) get scared when books represent the internet, social media, or current slang, Fruit Fly does all of this fiercely and purposefully.
Within the first couple of chapters, Mallory is revealed to be a washed-up writer, stuck in an intense writer’s block after her first novel was published. Stuck in a wealthy life she feels extremely uncomfortable in, she plays a perfect wife, working as a freelance therapist.
In a drunken frenzy, she decides to break this writer’s block by getting into a new world for inspiration: Grindr.
“Virginia Woolf would have loved Grindr.”
Mallory (Fruit Fly)
Here, we meet Leo, Fruit Fly’s other overarching narrator. Leo is a gay man, an addict, and a sex worker. For Mallory, Leo is just the person she has been looking for; the man who will fix her writer’s block. What better story for Mallory to tell than of this “hurt” man, so far removed from her perfect world?
Silver’s novel tells the stories of both Mallory and Leo as their lives intersect and explores the question of just how far will a person go for entertainment?
What I Love
There is a lot to love about Fruit Fly, and both Mallory and Leo have fascinating backstories. But what is most interesting about the book, is how Silver purposely makes both characters difficult to read but all-too relatable. Almost everything in the book made me squirm a bit with discomfort, which just shows how well-crafted Silver builds a satirical novel.
Every character, at least in most moments, suck. And as I was reading, I was transported to real life; to the people I’ve met and were forced to have conversations with. Still, each character is profoundly human. There is no villain, no “hero’s journey”, and no intensely sappy ending.
The novel exists as a metanarrative. Mallory writes the story of herself and Leo, while living and interacting with him. It made me really question what was going on, and Silver builds up both Mallory and Leo as unreliable narrators through what they choose to exclude from readers.
You Should Read ‘Fruit Fly’, If..
you love satire. Especially if you enjoy excellent commentary about wealth and class disparities. It’s also good for readers in the LGBTQ+ community, especially gay men who may be familiar with a lot of the vocabulary that Silver uses. Along with this, Silver, as stated in an interview, is a past addict and sees himself in both Mallory and Leo, so the novel might be particularly relatable to those who have struggled with addiction themselves or have experienced it first-hand.
But, if you are anyone looking for a new, fast-paced comedic thriller, Silver delivers tenfold in his novel.