Alice and the Fly

by James Rice Narrated by Scott Williams

Overview

Greg is cripplingly shy, afraid of spiders, and obsessed with Breakfast at Tiffany's. He's not exactly the most popular kid at his high school. In fact, he pretty much goes out of his way to avoid talking to anybody he doesn't have to. And it doesn't help that he has a severe lisp.

But Greg's English teacher, Miss Hayes, can see that there's something different about him. He's insightful and sensitive beyond his years, and maybe--just maybe--he'll use these strengths to break out of his shell someday. Miss Hayes urges Greg to keep a journal. "This isn't an assignment," she tells him, "just write down your thoughts."

Greg begins to write about everything from his mother's ill-conceived interior decorating ideas to his job at the local butcher's shop. When Greg begins to take an interest in a girl at his school named Alice, he realizes that he will have to face his most paralyzing anxieties if he wants to befriend Alice and help her escape from her violent family life.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

02/29/2016
When Greg “Fly” Hall, a teenager from wealthy Skipdale, falls for a girl named Alice from poverty-stricken Pitt, he imagines that he can save her from her abusive father and bully of a brother. But Greg—labeled “psycho” by his classmates for his uncontrollable fits, lisp, and non-communicative nature—faces a challenging route to protecting Alice. With his workaholic father, dance-obsessed sister, and social-climbing mother involved with their own interests, Greg resigns himself to following Alice and watching out for “Them,” imaginary spiders that threaten to devour Greg and those he loves. Told alternately through Greg’s diary and police transcripts, Rice’s debut maintains an atmosphere of increasing dread as Greg gets closer to an approaching party and as memories from his youth, including a boating accident and a dementia-afflicted grandmother, feed into his paranoia. Despite the misguided help of his teacher and his mother, Greg skirts closer to psychosis with chilling nightmares that indicate his schizophrenic state. In the heartbreaking ending, Rice poses compelling questions about guilt, responsibility, and the culture of objectification that lead to Greg’s final acts. Ages 12–up. (May)

From the Publisher

"Debut novelist Rice has turned in an extraordinarily accomplished effort, beautifully plotted and structured, emotionally resonant, and filled with multidimensional characters, especially, of course, Greg, whose condition of being is never less than persuasive -and that will excite a keen empathy from readers. May he have many of them."—Booklist, Starred Review




''This is a novel about loneliness, and Rice vividly evokes the isolation of all those trapped inside the need to present a socially valid exterior. His writing is fuelled by a powerful sense of empathy, even for those whose aspirations he so expertly ridicules. For all the bleakness it portrays Alice and the Fly is an oddly uplifting novel.''

— The Guardian




"Alice and the Fly is a darkly quirky story of love, obsession and fear. A disconcerting but beautiful story hung around the enchanting and heartbreaking voice of teenager Greg."

—Anna James, The Bookseller




''One of the most stunning debuts I've read in a long time. The talent behind it is huge.''


—Helen Walsh, author of The Lemon Grove

"gives a good insight into the unstable mind of a troubled young man, and I would definitely read more from this author."—A House of Books

"It's thrilling, gripping, heart-stopping and somehow moving at the same time. This isn't a story for the weak of heart. I'm still blown away that this is actually the author's debut and I'll definitely be checking out whatever he puts out next."—Quite the Novel Idea

"The novel takes on a disturbing and creepy feeling as it progresses and I couldn't dare put it down."—Book Likes

"It is no small feat to get into the mind of a disturbed teen. But James Rice does so skillfully in his debut novel . . . Rice propels readers into and beyond J.D. Salinger territory . . . This book may make readers take another look at the misfits among us whom we dismiss at their - and society's - peril."
—Star Tribune

"the world needs more books like this"—Silke Reads and Writes

Kirkus Reviews

2016-03-02
A schizophrenic English youth is destined for tragedy. Greg is a dysfunctional, shy, white teen with a severe lisp and a dark, muddled past. In an effort to make a connection, his English teacher asks him to write everything down in a journal. Rice's debut novel is made up of that journal's pages interspersed with police reports and interviews between officers and Greg's acquaintances. As Greg pines for a girl he barely knows and rants about Them, spiderlike creatures that only he can see, readers will quickly realize that Greg is schizophrenic and in dire need of help. Through Greg, the author shines a light on the many ways society fails those with mental illness, and readers are held captive in Greg's psyche hoping for someone, anyone to notice that this boy needs a second look. The interspersed police reports provide readers with their only glimpse of the world outside of Greg's point of view, and the tragic tone these interviews take does little to give readers hope. These interviews muck up the book's pacing a bit. Greg's story is quickly revealed to end in violent tragedy, and after 200 or so pages of Greg's brooding, many readers will be impatient. Supporting characters are poorly drawn, most given just one or two defining characteristics, and the police interviews don't flesh them out. A flawed novel examining a worthy subject. (Fiction. 14-18)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170351268
Publisher:	Hachette Audio
Publication date:	07/05/2016
Edition description:	Unabridged

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