Both maxims are about the stories people tell themselves. The first acknowledges that someone's read of a situation will shape the outcome'even if they're reading things wrong. The second declares that all of life is a story and you need to provide the drama. The desire to treat life as a narrative'and then control that narrative'is the subject of Stephen Fishbach's debut novel, Escape!, a literary thriller that follows a single season of a fictional reality survival show from casting to airtime. Fishbach writes from experience: He was a two-time contestant on Survivor and co-hosts a Survivor podcast. To inform his book, he interviewed many other reality contestants and crew members. The result marries the plot twists of a competition show with compassionate portraits of the people involved who are searching for identity and meaning. It's both an examination of how the reality-TV sausage gets made and a reminder that people can sacrifice their humanity if they focus too much on...
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