The Prank

THE PRANK is a novel about the tendency for any news story involving a cute child or a reprehensible parent to become a media feeding frenzy, about the incredible communicative power of the internet, about the speed at which a fabricated happening can cross the threshold into accepted truth. But it is also about us as consumers of narrative: about how the digital revolution has changed the way we process information. My hope is that as you are reading you will find yourself scanning, skipping, dismissing, and cherry-picking: pay attention to these moments. This is your brain doing something remarkable, something profoundly post-modern, something perhaps not altogether benign.
- from the author's foreword

Frank Nevis knows that there's more than one way to get famous in America. When massive flooding strikes his town, only Frank has the presence of mind to weave a fabricated story into the actual drama unfolding around him. After all: what better way to attract interest and funding for his now-defunct reality show career? Fueled by the blogosphere, Facebook, Twitter, and the echo chamber of the 24-hour news cycle Frank's fabrication is soon the biggest story breaking, but how long can he maintain his hastily-constructed lie? And where is the line, in the American audience's thirst for "reality entertainment," between the drama of Frank's unraveling plans and his and his family's fictional hardships? Written in a style intended to mimic the overwhelming cacophony that is news and culture in the 21st century, The Prank explores the question of reality in the digital age, where viral falsehoods and reported lies are par for the course.

Written by Adam Black
Cover Design by Tom Maven