One might expect a novel with the title I See You've Called In Dead to be full of zany humor, especially given that the author, New Yorker contributor John Kenney (Truth in Advertising), has received the Thurber Prize for American Humor. One wouldn't be wrong. But like the film Harold and Maude, which this thoughtful work references, Kenney's book begins with an offbeat premise and deepens it into a life-affirming piece about making the most of one's precious few seconds on Earth.
Bud Stanley, a 44-year-old wire service obituary writer, has learned a lot after writing 724 obits, such as that "you are more likely to be killed by a cow than a shark." What this divorced man hasn't learned is to check his impulses. After an unsuccessful first date and the discovery that his ex-wife, who had a miscarriage when they were married, now has a baby girl, he gets drunk in his Brooklyn apartment. He writes his obituary--complete with false claims that he was "the first man to perform open-heart surgery on himself "--and posts it to the company's site.
His employer is not amused. Readers will be, however, at the mounting consequences, but their amusement will be leavened by more serious storylines, most notably Bud's interactions with Tim, his paraplegic landlord, and Clara, a woman who (while much younger than Maude) attends strangers' funerals. This story with wacky elements ends up addressing questions of mortality and the need to appreciate beauty. I See You've Called in Dead is a charmer. --Michael Magras, freelance book reviewer