Selling Dead People's Things

Inexplicably True Tales, Vintage Fails & Objects of Objectionable Estates

By: Duane Scott Cerny

Narrated by: Duane Scott Cerny

Selling Dead People’s Things is a wry behind-the-curtain peek into the world of antiques and their obsessive owners—while still alive and after their passing. An amusing observer of the human condition, author Duane Scott Cerny entertains in illuminating, scary, sad, or frightfully funny resale tales and essays. Whether processing the estate of a hoarding beekeeper, disassembling the retro remains of an infamous haunted hospital, or conducting an impromptu appraisal during a shiva gone disturbingly wrong, every day is a twisted treasure hunt for this 21st-century antiques dealer.

While digging deep into the basements, attics, and souls of the most interesting collectors imaginable, traveling from one odd house call to the curious next, resale predicaments will confound your every turn. Be careful where you step, watch what you touch, and gird your heart—Antiques Roadshow, this ain’t!

©2018 Duane Scott Cerny (P)2022 Duane Scott Cerny

Buy Selling Dead People's Things

As someone who has bought and sold more than my share of dead people's things, I enjoyed this book start to finish. Duane Cerny's stories can be both snarky and sweet, and I found myself touched by the characters he encounters and entertained by his unpretentious storytelling. Oh, and as a native Chicagoan, the sound of Duane's Chicago accent was pure comfort food for me. Can't wait to check out his new book, Vintage Confidential.

Great storytelling and very heartfelt

I loved this book. It made me cry;it made me laugh; it made me think

Don't Judge a Book by its Cover...

3.5 rounded up.

Before I say anything about the book itself, I first have to point out that this may be one of the worst book covers in the history of book covers. As a vintage reseller myself, I understand how one has to approach the process with compassion and respect for the dead, a theme that Cerny establishes beautifully throughout the book, and this cover undermines all of that with it's weird horror vibes. Ugh...so bad. That said, we can't judge the book by its cover, and the stories within are, for the most part, pretty delightful. I really enjoyed learning about Cerny's history in the business, and the stories he has to tell are at times hysterical, often moving, and sometimes a bit too far-fetched. There were a few tales that fell a bit flat, but many of them were entertaining enough to make up for that. I'm not sure if the book would hit the same for somebody not involved in the world of vintage reselling, but for my part, I enjoyed it. Cerny's narration was pretty engaging for the most part, and he is a dynamic storyteller, but the production value is low, and there is a lot of extraneous mouth noise that might be aggravating for folks with sensitivities to such things.

Bad Narrator for Audio-book

Some of the stories were interesting, but overall I found it boring. If I had been reading this book instead of listening to it, I probably would have quit. The narrator’s voice was grating and his lip-smacking was unnerving. If the narrator had just talked like hell was chatting with a friend and skipped the voice imitations, the stories may have been more enjoyable. As it was, it seemed as if it was someone reading from a script, pausing at stringing intervals as if turning the page before finishing a sentence.