REVIEW: I See You’ve Called in Dead by John Kenney

JayneB Reviews / Book ReviewsContemporary / Fiction / First-Person / grief / Humor / New York City1 Comments

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.

CW – Depression, death, talk about attempted suicide, past miscarriage 

Dear Mr. Kenney, 

I could not resist this title. Then after I got started, the first 20% buzzed by in a haze of laughter as I got to know poor, sad sack Bud Stanley. A combination of still mourning his past marriage, a terrible blind date – that really never even got started for Reasons, and learning about his ex-MIL’s death sends Bud slightly over the edge late one evening. The aged Scotch he drank didn’t help. The next morning he wakes up, goes to work and discovers that yes, he did post that outrageous obituary for himself at the newspaper where he works. Put on leave (unpaid, IIRC), Bud is adrift. 

After meeting a woman at the ex-MIL’s viewing who attends the wakes and funerals of strangers, Bud along with his landlord Tim, starts to attend them with Clara. Follow along as Bud tries to figure out where to go from here and what is the purpose and meaning of life. 

Yes, okay this book goes over familiar territory in familiar ways. But it’s so entertaining that I enjoyed the trip anyway. It’s funny, it’s sad, it’s profound in places but I didn’t get the feeling that it was reaching too obviously for any of that. It all just flowed out without being too overworked or sentimental. The office management HR meetings are comedy gold although also stereotype these soulless workplace characters at times. 

As various characters are introduced and interact with Bud, I kept waiting for the Message each was supposed to convey and help Bud realize. Instead, the characters felt individual and fully fledged even if some of them weren’t on page for a long time. But let me be honest. At times though Bud is a challenge, Tim is too perfect despite efforts to make him not be so, Clara is a bit of a manic pixie dream girl, and young Leo (whom I love anyway along with his Rottweiler Muffin) is a little bit too quirky and wise. I still enjoyed them anyway.  

As they attend various funerals and visiting hours, their own pasts and issues slowly seep out. Each has got issues but these are handled lightly – maybe too lightly at times – rather than being played for cheap tears and tugged heartstrings. Sometimes humor is used to avoid facing things that need to be looked at but don’t we all do that. Those things are still there and gradually get pulled out and examined. Occasionally issues will be gently set aside, or tossed hard, and in some cases are still works in progress by the end of the book. Life is messy.

What really worked for me as well is that the book is pretty much a love letter to New York City. I’ve never lived there but I could feel the love that these people have for it. The story is really about relationships and these sing. Bud has wonderful friendships with his boss Howard (even if Bud drives Howard crazy at times), coworker Tuan (theirs is complicated but the little touches show that it’s real), and of course Tim who has the presence to wait for answers and let pauses do heavy lifting in getting Bud to examine his life. Bud needs this as for a long time he strongly resists digging deeper. Fair warning, Bud also has moments of cis-het-white-male privilege.     

The end is not quite what I was expecting. I think maybe Bud gets off a touch lightly. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy that some things work out better for him and he seems to be in a good place mentally as well as materially but I was hoping he would strike out and find himself more through his own efforts instead of being given some perks that perhaps he still hasn’t quite earned yet. B

~Jayne

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