A Fan-Favorite Survivor Contestant Has Written a Novel About a Show That Looks a Whole Lot Like Survivor

"Not least because you may already be well acquainted with Fishbach himself-a two-time fan-favorite player from the old-school days who charmed devotees of the show with his unabashed nerdiness and bromance with Survivor winner and cutie cattle rancher J.T. Thomas. (Personally, I will never forget when, during his second tour on the show, in Cambodia, Fishbach recited poetry to his deeply ambivalent tribe-mates in the rain and compared his chief rival to Moby Dick.)"

"It follows Kent, a former winner of the Survivor-ish reality show Endure, whose life basically stalled out after his star turn; the novel opens with him, now carrying a few more years and pounds, watching a DVD of his younger self's island performance, surrounded by Endure memorabilia he's slowly selling off on eBay. He picks up some bucks doing charity events here and there (yes, he insists on being paid for them),"

"You don't need to be a fan of Survivor to enjoy Stephen Fishbach's ambitious new page-turner Escape!, about the making of an over-the-top survival-style reality show, but you might get a little something extra out of it if you are. Not least because you may already be well acquainted with Fishbach himself-a two-time fan-favorite player from the old-school days who charmed devotees of the show with his unabashed nerdiness and bromance with Survivor winner and cutie cattle rancher J.T. Thomas."

Escape! follows Kent, a former winner of the Survivor-like competition Endure whose life has stalled since his victory. Kent watches recordings of his past performance while selling memorabilia and doing paid charity appearances. He accepts an offer to compete on Escape!, a new show where contestants race to get off an island. Beck, a devoted producer hired by the show's legendary creator, pursues professional redemption after a possible career-ending mistake and deliberately shapes and manipulates on-camera moments. The novel spans more than 400 pages and centers on flawed but endearing characters searching for meaning amid manufactured high-stakes entertainment.

Read at Slate Magazine