The Brief History of the Dead

'Dead' denizens dwell on cusp of life, death
By Anita Sama, USA TODAY
The premise is larger than life: There is a transitional place for the dead if they remain in the memory of someone living.

The Brief History of the Dead has elements of fantasy and science fiction.

In his novel The Brief History of the Dead, Kevin Brockmeier peoples an entire city with these nearly departed.

His city of the dead pulses with life. Inhabitants shop for shoes, read the newspaper, linger over coffee and wonder what comes next. Neither heaven nor hell, death here actually looks a lot like life on Earth with some fascinating quirky twists. No one ages, and possibilities range from good people rediscovering love to the not-so-good staying disturbingly in character.

Each chapter alternates between this posthumous "outer room" and a fiendishly cold corner of the real world. Here, one woman's memory holds the key to that otherworldly city. Laura Byrd is a wildlife specialist on a bizarre polar expedition.

Gradually, we understand why she is there and meet her family, childhood friends, former lovers and passing acquaintances. With Brockmeier's well-paced narrative, connections among them become clear.

Who are these people, and what are they doing in this strange place? Sound familiar and enticing? Sort of like Lost in a good book.

Brockmeier's roots in the tradition of science fiction and fantasy are evident, although in this relatively brief book, he reaches wider than merely charting the apocalypse. There are many levels, each interesting.

One is the fragile nature of human civilization. Another is the stunning number of people each mind holds in its memory bank.

Still one more is the "what next" question that humans have asked as long as they have had the capacity to wonder.

Comparison with Alice Sebold's 2002 best seller, The Lovely Bones, is inevitable, offering as it did another view of life after death. Brockmeier's earlier novel, The Truth About Celia, touched some of the same elements of loss and imagination and renewal.

Ever since the first chapter of The Brief History of the Dead appeared in September 2003 as a magazine short story in The New Yorker, admirers have anticipated its publication. They won't be disappointed.