Stephen Deluca

Sparky and the Waarheid Camera Stephen Deluca

Sparky and the Waarheid Camera is a darkly comic tale of oddballs, subterfuge, selfishness and disappointment, which contrast with the title character's charming innocence. The novel follows Sparky Donnelly, a ten-year-old boy whose superficially idyllic home life is about to shatter. Sparky is aware that something is wrong-a feeling which he experiences as a vague, indefinable dissatisfaction and naively attributes to his television-fueled perception that other people are living far more fun and exciting lives than he is. This idea obsesses Sparky and triggers an extraordinary dream of an entire day. Armed with several hundred dollars and a special camera that purportedly reveals the true essence of things rather than their outward appearance, Sparky gets a taste of a wide spectrum of dysfunctional and perverse adults in his travels. The conversations that ensue from these surreal encounters serve up slyly ironic and raunchy humor, including some unwittingly sardonic observations by Sparky himself.