This week’s Nonfiction November festivities are being hosted over on Liz’s site Adventures in reading, running, and working from home, with the prompt being:
“Book Pairings: This week, pair up a nonfiction book with a fiction title. Maybe it’s a historical novel and the real history in a nonfiction version, or a memoir and a novel, or a fiction book you’ve read, and you would like recommendations for background reading. Or maybe it’s just two books you feel have a link, whatever they might be. You can be as creative as you like!”
This week’s challenge was fun because both of these books are fun as they revolve around the world inhabited by obituary writers. The novel, I See You Called in Dead by John Kenney, is a new one that came out this year, and the nonfiction I matched with it is the amazing 2006 book The Dead Beat by Marilyn Johnson.
Kenney’s I See You Called in Dead starts off so quickly with a bunch of things happening in the first 30 pages. Here’s the setup: a tired and ready-to-give-up obituary writer has a night of drunken weakness (dwelling on his ex-wife’s current life without him) where he logs into his work network and writes an amazingly humorous and lie-ridden obituary for himself. The next morning, the world believes he is dead. The next afternoon, he gets put on paid leave as the company decides what to do (the computer won’t let them fire someone who is already dead). He spends the rest of the novel going through his personal relationships as well as attending the funerals of random people around the city.
While the book has lots of fun people and a quirky plot, there were two things I really enjoyed: first, New York City. The book is dripping with the sights and sounds of the city, and it was fun; second, every once in a while, Bud or a friend would have a moment of clarity about something profound (the city or the role of news) or see the edges of some universal truth. There are some really big “wake up call” kind of moments that will stay with you once you’ve finished reading. The book is so well done and even fun to read as it balances ideas of life/death among all the weird happenings and sarcastic remarks. Just like life.
While that novel deals with an obituary writer dealing with life and visiting funerals, Johnson’s The Dead Beat deals with real-life obituary writers as well as some of the lives and deaths behind the articles. This book is such a fun read.
Some of the obituaries are absolutely brutal, some are eye-watering sweet, and they all add up to a true snapshot of humanity. The book was written almost 20 years ago, so the internet doesn’t figure in as much as it would today (and I think that is kind of refreshing). Johnson interviews obituary writers, readers, and even goes to an Obituary Writers’ Conference. I had no idea how many people read the obituary page each day. She does a good job of showing the art, humor, and humanity behind every column inch that gets published.
I hope you all have found some good nonfiction books this month. And I hope you have someplace to share and get others excited about your reads. Book people are the best people, and the internet is at its best wherever there is a vibrant book community.
That’s an excellent pairing! I do love the huge variety of books we get in this week: I bet no one else does obituary writers as their theme! Thank you for taking part – you can feel free to link to my host post as it will slip down my blog fairly rapidly!
I updated the link on my site. Thanks again!
Both of these seem great, thanks for sharing
Happy Nonfiction November
Thank you. They were both enjoyable reads.
Both of those sound like books I would enjoy. Fun post! Thanks.
Thank you. These were fun to read & talk about. It seems like a really quirky part of the newspaper business. Thank you for reading!
What a great pairing! I fear the newspaper obituary is becoming a lost art. For one thing, some papers charge a rather hefty fee for obituaries! And then there’s the internet . . . I See You’ve Called in Dead sounds like a fun book to read, and The Dead Beat has to be fascinating. Oh, dear. My to-read-queue has already exceed three notepad pages! But I must add these. I like quirky, and these look like they’ll fill the bill. Thanks!
They are both a little off the beaten path for sure. Such an interesting side of the newspaper business. And I 100% agree with you about the fears and costs of newspapers these days. I’m not saying those days were better, but there really was something enjoyable about newspapers and magazines that the internet just hasn’t been able to capture yet.
I had no idea that newspapers charge for obituaries!
I had one published once, upon the death of my piano teacher who was a child prodigy and a concert pianist, and (though that was not why I wrote it, I was very fond of her) I briefly entertained the idea that they might pay me for it!
All the more reason, I guess, why we should include obituaries of our favourite writers on our blogs. I’ve got 50 author obits on my blog, but I can only use what’s in the public domain, it’s not like with my teacher who I’d known personally since childhood and was still visiting right up until she died.
Writing obits on our blogs is a great idea. I’ve often linked to such pieces, but never considered writing one as well. What a great way to honor and spread the word. I may have to start doing this as well.
I must look for The Dead Beat. It sounds like my sort of read.
It was a lot of fun. So many quirky people and stories from those pages of the paper. She did a good job making the book work. Thank you for stopping by!
I hadn’t heard of either of these books so I enjoyed reading your post! The Dead Beat sounds fascinating.
Great pairing!
What an excellent pairing! Both of these books are demanding to be added to my TBR list.
The both were fun to read, especially ‘The Dead Beat’.
I don’t think I’ve ever read the obituary page. I didn’t know it was so popular!
I’ve never read any as creative or clever as the ones in ‘The Dead Beat’. These were fun. Thank you for reading!
Both of these have gone straight on my TBR, thank you!
I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. They are both a tad quirky, which made them fun.
Both of these sound right up my alley! Adding them to my list now… Thanks, Trav!
They were both really worthwhile and give reason to think about “big picture” life type things. Thank you for reading!
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