Life as It Should Be

WHATEVER YOUR RELATIONSHIP to reality TV—whether you watch it obsessively, reluctantly, ironically, or not at all—you have probably tried at some point to understand its appeal. And if you’ve watched enough of it, you might even have asked yourself: “Why would anybody put themselves through this?” Escape! (2026), the debut novel by two-time Survivor contestant Stephen Fishbach, offers a compelling answer. As it follows eight contestants and a production crew filming a survival show in the remote jungle, Fishbach’s novel explores the psychology of reality TV, from the conniving producers to the self-aggrandizing contestants to the devoted fans. The result is a novel of hard-hitting entertainment, packed with plot twists and sharp insights.