The Brief History of the Dead

Kevin Brockmeier

Mar 2006 · Recorded Books · Narrated by Richard Poe

About this audiobook

From Kevin Brockmeier, one of this generation's most inventive young writers, comes a striking new novel about death, life, and the mysterious place in between. The City is inhabited by those who have departed Earth but are still remembered by the living. They will reside in this afterlife until they are completely forgotten. But the City is shrinking, and the residents clearing out. Some of the holdouts, like Luka Sims, who produces the City's only newspaper, are wondering what exactly is going on. Others, like Coleman Kinzler, believe it is the beginning of the end. Meanwhile, Laura Byrd is trapped in an Antarctic research station, her supplies are running low, her radio finds only static, and the power is failing. With little choice, Laura sets out across the ice to look for help, but time is running out. Kevin Brockmeier alternates these two storylines to create a lyrical and haunting story about love, loss and the power of memory.

Ratings and reviews

I tripped over this book at the library, picked it up, started reading, stopped long enough to check it out and drive home, and didn't stop again until I hit the back cover. I've returned to the city of the remembered dead several times since, and this is one of my favorite books to recommend to friends. Do yourself a favor and check this one out.

About the author

Kevin Brockmeier won an O. Henry Award in 2001 for "These Hands". He has published stories in the Georgia Review. The Carolina Quarterly, The Chicago Tribune (as a Nelson Algren award recipient) & Writing on the Edge (as an Italo Calvino Short Fiction Award Winner). He is a 1999-2000 recipient of a James Michener-Paul Engle Fellowship. Kevin lives in Little Rock, Arkansas where he teaches Creative Writing.