Josh Silver on “Fruit Fly,” Sobriety, Queer Storytelling & Who Gets to Tell Our Stories

Josh Silver joins Brian Larson on “Shelf Care Society” to talk about “Fruit Fly,” his buzzy adult debut, available now.

Josh takes us inside the darkly funny, deeply unsettling novel about Mallory Maddox, a blocked writer who goes looking for her next bestseller and finds Leo, a young gay man struggling with addiction whose life she begins turning into material.

Together, Brian and Josh dig into some of the biggest questions behind the book: Who gets to tell whose story? What does “authentic” storytelling actually mean? And when does fascination with someone else’s pain become exploitation?

Josh also opens up about his own sobriety, his years working as a mental health nurse, the complicated relationship between addiction and social media, and why there is no single path to recovery. They discuss queer representation in publishing, the rise of “MM” fiction, the influence of R.F. Kuang’s “Yellowface,” and why Josh completely rewrote the ending of “Fruit Fly” just before the book went to proofreaders.

Plus: Malala Yousafzai posting about the book, its whirlwind success, and what Josh can share about the A24 television adaptation.

“Fruit Fly” by Josh Silver is available now wherever books are sold.