See? I told you I read a lot about death all at once. While my previous post, When Things are Alive They Hum, had an overall tone of seriousness and drama, this particular title wielded humor quite expertly to pack a truly insightful punch. The novel follows Bud Stanley, an obituary writer who is attempting (quite unsuccessfully) to recover from a divorce. He’s become pretty terrible at a job he used to excel at, mostly due to the fact that he enjoys embellishing the obituaries he’s given to write. I mean, doesn’t it sound better that Gladys broke the world record for the women’s slolam during the 1972 Winter Olympics than it does to say she worked at the DMV for 50 years? Yes, it certainly does. By the way, I don’t recall that being one of Bud’s reassignments in death, but they were all fairly similar.

When Bud drunkenly publishes his own outlandish obituary to every outlet in the galaxy, he finds himself not only dead (allegedly)… but probably and imminently unemployed. What follows is a sometimes hilarious and sometimes deeply profound journey of self discovery. In the company of his paralyzed from the waist-down but devilishly handsome best friend and landlord, Tim, and the strange but compelling woman he met at a funeral who just goes to the funerals of strangers for funzies, Bud begins to also attend random funerals. He finds there’s a lot to learn about life from the dead as he experiences the lives of these strangers through the eyes of the people who loved them. He might just glean enough insight to shock his own stalled existence back to the world of the living.

It’s rare to find a book that can pack so much meaning into something so funny. I was laughing one moment and then crying the next, but it never felt jarring. Just as life can be unpredictable and surprising, so too is this story. I believe many readers will identify with Bud’s awkward charisma, and many will perhaps see themselves in his quest for meaning in what has become a boring life. It’s a portrait of a man who has reached that moment in life when everything seems to be crashing down around him and he has to decide whether to lay under the rubble and die or dig himself out and start anew. Kenney appears to be very gifted at packing a gut-punch that’s wrapped in light-hearted humor to help soften the blow. This book is a worthwhile journey to take. It’s not long or overly complex, but it’s full of heart.

Published April 1, 2025 by Zibby Publishing. ISBN 9798989923045. Runtime 7 hrs 46 mins. Narrated by Sean Patrick Hopkins.