The Comedian’s Book of the Dead by Gary Barwin

A profound and imaginative underworld quest from one of Canada’s most beloved and awarded storytellers.

Death is a comedian and devoted family man, but everything falls apart when the Fates choose him to guide departed souls to the Beneath. Having to perform this new role erodes his humanity and causes him to do some perhaps unforgivable things, and when his only son dies by suicide, Death realizes he’s likely the one to blame.

Attempting the impossible, Death goes into the Beneath to beg the Fates to allow him to bring back his son. Naturally, things are not what they seem, and Death is then forced to reevaluate everything he knows—everything except the deep love he has for his child.

The Comedian’s Book of the Dead is a fresh and funny page-turner that blends Barwin’s celebrated wit with deeply moving scenes of empathy and compassion. The result is a heartbreaking and humorous journey into the joy and pain of parenthood, and a thoughtful exploration of choice and agency, sacrifice and love.

Praise for The Comedian’s Book of the Dead

“Who will lend an ear to Death? Who will listen to his sorrows? The answer might surprise and even shock you. Gary Barwin does it again in this hard jewel of a novel. Read it and be carved clean.” —Alan Bradley, New York Times bestselling author of the Flavia de Luce series

“With great psychopomp and circumstance, Gary Barwin wields language with the deftness of a poet—dare I say, of a comedian—to confront a father’s greatest fear: that he might not be able to keep his family safe, not even from himself.” —Charlie Demers, comedian and author of The Eh Team: A Celebration of Canadianisms from Elbows Up to Poutine

“An underground high-wire act, a death-defying tale of parenthood, love, and murderous jealousy carried on currents of brilliant language, a plummeting exploration of mortality by a functionary of the Fates. Extraordinary.” —Martha Baillie, author of There Is No Blue, winner of the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction

“To read The Comedian’s Book of the Dead is to sink into a sumptuous world of the surreal and familiar. Here, we meet a man trying to live his life as best he can—making a go of it as a stand-up comic, husband to the love of his life, and father to a beautiful son—until he becomes Death and everything falls apart. In Barwin’s masterful hands, we are gifted his trademark humour as we delve into our deepest sorrows as Death sojourns to the Beneath in a quest to make love stay.” —Carrianne Leung, author of Wonderland Road