The Brief History of the Dead

By: Kevin Brockmeier

Narrated by: Richard Poe

Award-winning author Kevin Brockmeier delivers a spellbinding, supernatural tale of love, memories, and human connection. All residents of the City have recently died, and they will remain in the City only as long as someone still living on Earth remembers them. On Earth, however, the population has been devastated by a terrible pandemic. Laura Byrd, isolated at an Antarctic research station, may be the only person to have survived the pandemic. But she's running out of time and supplies, and her memories are fading.

Brilliant in concept and execution, The Brief History of the Dead is a spectacular achievement that lingers in the mind long after the final word.

©2006 Kevin Brockmeier (P)2006 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"Beautiful, delicate." (Publishers Weekly)

When I was 13 I would have loved this.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

If the friend is 13 and under yes I would.

Would you ever listen to anything by Kevin Brockmeier again?

maybe.

How could the performance have been better?

a little less silly would be nice.

Do you think The Brief History of the Dead needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

nah. I think we got all the good out of this one.

Can't wait to hear it again.

Finally, a truly great post-apocalyptic novel that manages to be about so much more than the nuts and bolts of the gory end of man. The premise is really fresh and the story is told so delicately and carefully that it unfolds like a flower. This book made me look at humankind and the nature of human relationships with a compassion that I had not felt for years.

About a year ago, I muscled through this novel in one reeeeeally long road trip. It kept me awake and engaged. When I finally reached my destination for the night, I was so bummed that there were 30 minutes left that I ended up listening to the rest of it there in the parking lot, in the same car I'd have paid good money to escape hundreds of miles earlier that day.

There were a few parts toward the end that I felt were too slow, and have since realized that I was just so curious and impatient to see how it ended that I was giving no respect to the process. Then I found out that when I just *listened* to the language and watched the story coming together in my mind, I was really glad that those parts were there.

I'm about to read it again. This time, instead of blazing through it, I'm going to take my time. It's worth it.

Just OK

First off, I love the narrator's voice. Second, I think there's a lot of story potential and the plot idea is clever. However, I kept waiting for something more substantial to occur. It never happened and the ending was a bit of a disappointment.

it just...ends.

great concept, engaging writing, abrupt ending. narrator was good but breathy. it was disappointing unfortunately

Really thought provoking book.

It's nicely written. Maybe at times it gets a little wordy, but usually not for too long.

The story is super interesting and really well thought out. There's a lot going on, but never too much to keep track of. A handful of really interesting characters- some dead, some alive - and I couldn't stop listening to the audio book waiting to see how it would all tie together.

The only downside was that it felt like it was going somewhere, like it was building to some big moment, and it never felt like that moment came. It sort of just ends. It makes sense and everything. You're not left hanging, but it wasn't as big of a moment as maybe I was hoping.

Still a great story and I'll be telling my friends about it.

And the audio book was really well narrated.