by: John Kenney
Goodreads synopsis:
The Office meets Six Feet Under meets About a Boy in this coming-of-middle-age tale about having a second chance to write your life’s story.
Bud Stanley is an obituary writer who is afraid to live. Yes, his wife recently left him for a “far more interesting” man. Yes, he goes on a particularly awful blind date with a woman who brings her ex. And yes, he has too many glasses of Scotch one night and proceeds to pen and publish his own obituary. The newspaper wants to fire him. But now the company’s system has him listed as dead. And the company can’t fire a dead person. The ensuing fallout forces him to realize that life may be actually worth living.
As Bud awaits his fate at work, his life hangs in the balance. Given another shot by his boss and encouraged by his best friend, Tim, a worldly and wise former art dealer, Bud starts to attend the wakes and funerals of strangers to learn how to live.
Thurber Prize-winner and New York Times bestselling author John Kenney tells a funny, touching story about life and death, about the search for meaning, about finding and never letting go of the preciousness of life.
Helen says: 🤓🤓🤓🤓
Laugh out loud funny, which is rare to do while reading…soooo sarcastic- I love it! Also, poignant in all the right places…This book will stick with me (I think?)….I can’t wait to explore more books by John Kenney.
Holly says: 🤓🤓🤓🤓
At times hysterically, laugh out loud funny, and at other times poignantly sad. A very easy read. I loved Bud Stanley, the main character who mistakenly posts his own obituary. Read it – I think you will love it. And if you do, I recommend that you watch Ricky Gervais’s Afterlife.
Helen and Holly Hit the Books 