I See You've Called in Dead

A Novel

De: John Kenney

Narrado por: Sean Patrick Hopkins

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 NYTimes 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.

©2025 Zibby Publishing (P)2025 Zibby Publishing

Great premise

Very humorous but thoughtful book! Well written and thought provoking. Enjoyed very much! Recommending to all my friends

Characters were genuine, narrator hit the nail on the head

I really liked Bud right from the beginning, even though he’s a bit of a mess. The story was unique and Bud’s evolution within all of his relationships is touching. Narration was top notch!

Hilarious

This book was really funny. I laughed throughout. I enjoyed it. It was a nice surprise!

I laughed and I cried

There was nothing I disliked. I may listen again. Great dialogue. Enjoyed every word, even the sad words.

The depth of the story.

I was getting very agitated with the main character’s whiny and sarcastic nature. However, there were many gems and insights into the human condition throughout the book. Wish I had been taking notes!

Good Book!

There were laugh out moments but more importantly, lots of heart. He touched on different aspects of life and society without hitting you over the head with it. Clever work. Enjoyable!

Very contemplative with dry humor

I liked the thoughtfulness of the story but thought the dryness of the wit could be hard to handle if you’re grieving.

Sweet story about examining a life.

The story was interesting. The characters were well developed and real. I will think about this after I am done.

Oof. Going to be thinking about this one.

Beautifully written, the author will take you through a wide range of emotions in this story. And you’ll laugh. The narrator was wonderful. Great timing, tone, and easy to understand. Like he was telling his own story.

The book is a story about a man who works as an obituary writer that posts his own obituary one drunken evening and the things that happen afterwards. The real meaningful part, though, is what he experiences. It’s worth a read. This is going in my 6 star pile of “I’ll read that one again.” Enjoy!

Humorous take on life!

I loved this novel / audiobook so much and I know I'm going to listen to it more than once. I expected it to be really funny, which it was. I did not expect it to be so poignant, which it also was. A great reminder that life is incredibly precious, that we each touch many lives by our own existence, and that's a good idea to keep a sense of humor about it all!