“Remember me when I’m gone”

just took on a whole new meaning.

The City is inhabited by the recently departed, who reside there only as long as they remain in the memories of the living. Among the current residents of this afterlife are Luka Sims, who prints the only newspaper in the City, with news from the other side; Coleman Kinzler, a vagrant who speaks the cautionary words of God; and Marion and Phillip Byrd, who find themselves falling in love again after decades of marriage.

On Earth, Laura Byrd is trapped by extreme weather in an Antarctic research station. She’s alone and unable to contact the outside world: her radio is down and the power is failing. She’s running out of supplies as quickly as she’s running out of time.

Kevin Brockmeier interweaves these two stories in a spellbinding tale of human connections across boundaries of all kinds. The Brief History of the Dead is the work of a remarkably gifted writer.

Kevin Brockmeier

凱文•布羅剋邁耶（1972- ）

生於阿肯薩斯州小石城。2007年凱文被《格蘭塔》列為“美國最佳年輕小說傢”之一。他已齣版過多部小說和小說集，包括《西莉亞的真實故事》、《從天而降》等。他的作品還收錄在《紐約客》、《全美最佳短篇小說》等雜誌和書中。他曾獲伊泰洛•卡爾維諾短篇小說奬、詹姆斯•米切納-保羅•安格爾奬學金和美國國傢藝術基金會奬學金，並三次獲歐•亨利奬短篇小說奬。現常在衣阿華作傢工作坊授課，同時也在阿肯薩斯大學和格林內爾學院教授創意寫作課程。