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The Exploding Fete
Mrs. Candace Winslow is hosting a party at her opulent home. It is the annual awards dinner of the Foundation for the Advancement of Inclusivity and Recognition, whose board she chairs. Every guest arriving hopes to be the recipient of the FAIR Award, which recognizes hardships, injustices, beleaguered states, neglect, plights, disadvantages, and other societal transgressions. There’s also a cash prize at stake, of $25,000.
Because of the risk of a hate-motivated attack and a leak of the winner, all guest/candidates must surrender their mobile phones. This leaves them all on edge. But little do the party-goers realize that the greatest threat to their safety is themselves.
The Exploding Fete is a story of an evening rife with good intentions that is interrupted by one man bent on revenge. The book employs Narrative Branch Technology™, which allows readers to choose the outcome that best aligns with their worldview. Despite this accommodation, a probing question arises: Do the rich get away with murder? And what about media attention? Does it do anything to lessen the vulnerability of the helpless, the hapless, the indigent, the indoctrinated, the addicted, the sublimated, the oppressed, the hungry, the starving, the poor, the injured, the overlooked, the maligned, the slandered...
Because of the risk of a hate-motivated attack and a leak of the winner, all guest/candidates must surrender their mobile phones. This leaves them all on edge. But little do the party-goers realize that the greatest threat to their safety is themselves.
The Exploding Fete is a story of an evening rife with good intentions that is interrupted by one man bent on revenge. The book employs Narrative Branch Technology™, which allows readers to choose the outcome that best aligns with their worldview. Despite this accommodation, a probing question arises: Do the rich get away with murder? And what about media attention? Does it do anything to lessen the vulnerability of the helpless, the hapless, the indigent, the indoctrinated, the addicted, the sublimated, the oppressed, the hungry, the starving, the poor, the injured, the overlooked, the maligned, the slandered...
288 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 7, 2020
3 people want to read
About the author
Benjamin Obler
6 books9 followersI teach fiction at Gotham Writer's Workshop in New York City.
My first novel, Javascotia, came out from Penguin Books UK in 2009. In 2015 my story "The White Man's Incredulity Furrows His Brow" won the short fiction contest with the journal PUERTO DEL SOL. In 2016, I published essays with the Guardian, LongReads, Electric Literature, and The Times (of London) magazine.
My first novel, Javascotia, came out from Penguin Books UK in 2009. In 2015 my story "The White Man's Incredulity Furrows His Brow" won the short fiction contest with the journal PUERTO DEL SOL. In 2016, I published essays with the Guardian, LongReads, Electric Literature, and The Times (of London) magazine.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 31, 2020
I just read and thoroughly enjoyed Ben Obler’s The Exploding Fete. The occasion is an Award ceremony for he or she who - in brief - hath suffered the most. That premise in itself is a hoot and a great setup for the satire that follows.
Ben seizes the occasion to make fun of the extreme political correctness that has taken over at least a segment of society right now, with clever caricatures of today’s archetypes - the lesbian, the person from Africa, the marginalized white male - etc. sketched out with his characteristic wit and humor (e.g. “the hairstyle that a person might adopt waking up in a refugee camp, where there were no showers or electricity,” “There’s a shit ton more to the screaming comet that was her life’s trajectory,”).
His writing and character development are at their finest, and his trenchant observations on
the many foibles of the attendees are a reminder of his keen insight into human nature. This makes it all sound very serious, but it’s more of a rollicking good read!
Ben seizes the occasion to make fun of the extreme political correctness that has taken over at least a segment of society right now, with clever caricatures of today’s archetypes - the lesbian, the person from Africa, the marginalized white male - etc. sketched out with his characteristic wit and humor (e.g. “the hairstyle that a person might adopt waking up in a refugee camp, where there were no showers or electricity,” “There’s a shit ton more to the screaming comet that was her life’s trajectory,”).
His writing and character development are at their finest, and his trenchant observations on
the many foibles of the attendees are a reminder of his keen insight into human nature. This makes it all sound very serious, but it’s more of a rollicking good read!
April 18, 2022
I never got into Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid, even then thinking they were kind of gimmicky, but the concept here works as it's part of the joke, and it became quickly clear which branch to follow for maximum story. For me, this was a fun trip through some Minnepolis-area landmarks in addition to nice social critique. Points of view are spelled out and contrasted through a large host of characters, and those on the outside seem to have the most sanity. And it all comes together in an over-the-top but satisfying fashion.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews