“On our block, an adorable coffee shop called Fig’s charged $15 for a coffee and a muffin because, a hand-lettered sign said, the coffee was apparently grown by a woman named Ana in Peru as a part of a woman’s collective and the muffin was vegan and made with organic lemons, chia seeds, and the tears of angels. Or something like that.”
~from “I See You’ve Called In Dead” by John Kenney
Right there on my couch in the middle of page 3, I laughed out loud to the point that my dogs thought someone was coming up the driveway and started barking frantically. I had to hush them and let them know it was just Bud, the obituary writer and main character in John Kenney’s novel, describing the reason he is divorced.
The dogs quieted until I flipped to page 4 and laughed aloud again. By the time I was into chapter 2, mercifully, they recognized the pattern and settled in for the night.
“I See You’ve Called In Dead” is filled with anecdotes, musings, and interpersonal relationships that are so incredibly real you just can’t help but get drawn in. Bud, Tim, Tuan, Howard, and Clara have stories that intertwine so deliberately yet also beautifully that empathy actually begins to tangibly flow throughout your veins as you read.
Bud’s divorce was just the tip of the iceberg, it turns out, and as the pages turn, we are privy to his innermost thoughts and fears, some more rational than others on both counts. After a bungled blind date and the mistake of having another cocktail, Bud’s creativity takes over and he begins to imagine his own obituary…with a few embellishments. Like…inventor of toothpaste and ninth in line for the British throne.
One more cocktail and Bud uploads his fiction into his work computer, complete with a photo from college. The New York paper he writes for is not amused in the least, though his friend (and landlord) Tim is filled with entertainment after learning that Bud is, in fact, still alive.
The trouble is, they are having difficulty firing him. A little glitch in company policy makes it impossible to fire a dead person. This buys Bud a little time, and, in a twist of fate, he and Tim find themselves at the funeral of Bud’s ex-mother-in-law. Here Bud meets face-to-face with his ex-wife, her new husband, and after that awkward moment is over, Bud introduces himself to Clara.
Clara and Tim, independently of one another, help Bud recognize that he has all but flatlined since his divorce, and that life is just too precious to waste. Seems cliche, perhaps, but John Kenney’s creation is anything but. Between the brilliance of Bud’s voice telling the story and how complex and relatable his life is, I found myself wishing for more as the pages drew to a close.
The denouement does not disappoint, and also does not “wrap up in a nice little package with a bow,” which can be sometimes just a bit much. It is raw, real, familiar, and in many instances just downright hilarious. Tough topics are taken head on, giving pause to contemplate the recognition that we don’t address some of these topics enough in our everyday lives, and the outcome of doing so is, quite simply, nothing short of refreshing.
Hillary Danaher 