MICROPHONE

This new novel by American author Steven Sidley casts a steely and comic eye on the great and small concerns of being human: the chances we take and miss, the pain of not fitting in, the fragility of the psyche, the unpredictability of love, the dull certainty of death, the importance of listening to others, and the careening craziness of it all.

The protagonist, Max Lurie, is a provocative podcaster living in Los Angeles; his navel-gazing and often shocking podcasts about his life have become a runaway success. But his embellishments and inventions have started to leak into his real lifeand as Max tries to navigate the gray areas between fact and fiction, things begin to spin out of control.

Max juggles real and imagined girlfriends, an imaginary brother, an illegally procured gun, a friendship with a homeless schizophrenic, a sarcastic producer, a dying father, and a critical and growing audience.

Microphone takes a deep and richly entertaining dive into the worlds we imagine for ourselves and the lives we actually live. It is a timely look at how our flesh-and-blood realities and digital personas intersect and merge in dramatic and amusing ways. Microphone is literary dark dramedy at its best.

Steven Boykey Sidley is an American who spent many years living and working in Hollywood. He currently lives in Johannesburg