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.
Obituary writer Bud Stanley isn't really living his best life. He's fallen into a funk after a divorce. (She left him for another man, who, in fairness, was far more interesting.) He's not doing his job well. He's given up on dating. And he's about to be fired for accidentally publishing his own obituary one mildly drunken night (though technically the company can't legally fire a dead person). Given another shot by his boss and encouraged by his best friend, Tim, a worldly and wise former art dealer, Bud goes to the wakes and funerals of total strangers to learn how to live again.
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.
General Note
AudioFiles Earphones Award Winner *
Library Journal Audio "Editor's Picks of the Year"
An NPR 2025 "Books We Love" USA Today April Pick An Indie Next LibraryReads Pick
2026 Gotham Book Prize Finalist
2026 Lariat Adult Fiction Reading List Pick.