The Death and Life of August Sweeney

by Samuel Ashworth

Legendary chef August Sweeney has served his final meal, dying in the middle of service in the very restaurant he built to secure his legacy. When Dr. Maya Zhu, a guarded, intense autopsist, is summoned to investigate, she discovers she must operate under strict conditions Sweeney himself dictated before he died. As she digs deeper into his immense body, everything that can go wrong, does, because August Sweeney isn't about to let a little thing like death stop him from raising hell.The Death and Life of August Sweeney finds two people drawn together across the barrier of death. In her ruthless drive to excel as a doctor, Zhu has walled herself off from almost everything. As she dissects Sweeney, teasing out the mysteries hidden in his body, she begins to understand that she is doing an autopsy on her an equally ruthless artist who made excess his muse. As she obsesses over what happened to Sweeney under the strangest conditions of her career, her life– and August' s death– will never be the same.An epic novel about life, death, and the worlds in between, The Death and Life of August Sweeney examines what it means to be driven, to be famous, and to be alive. A true book of the body, the author spent years researching clinical pathology and fine dining alike, spending weeks observing autopsies and working as a stagiaire in a Michelin-starred kitchen.

Genres: Fiction

316 pages, Paperback

Published March 20, 2025

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Samuel Ashworth has turned the concept of character development inside out with The Death and Life of August Sweeney. Working backwards from death, we trace a man's life through his clotted arteries, pockmarked lungs, and a brain spotted with legions, and learn far more about him post mortem than he ever would have revealed in life. Funny, disgusting, incisive, and anatomically correct -- it's a brilliant debut.

[Holly M Wendt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant and utterly unexpected novel. It's a proper love letter not only to food but to a person's occupational calling, rendered with propulsive urgency and a toothy specificity that makes the sentences a true pleasure.

[Elise · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this so much and adored both August and Maya. Chapter 10 made me cry and should be published as a short story. Yes to the words I had to look up in the dictionary and the metaphors for everything. I was legitimately annoyed by the lack of quotation marks.

[Emma McCoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to move to southern France, and while I don’t want to become an autopsy doctor I have 1000% more respect for the profession. Excellent writing!!

[Ben Yanofsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

The prose of this was phenomenal and the depth of research truly astounding. I try to write, try being the operative word, and a few books inspire me to do better. This is one of those books. If you’re not squeamish, absolutely pick this one up.

[Karen Carlson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book caught my eye because it features an autopsy on a chef: cooking and medicine, two of my favorite subject areas. But it turns into a lot more: the two main characters begin as total strangers, then, in alternating chapters, become closer until they ignite in each other a path towards change, towards being the person they always wanted to be, having the relationships they always wanted to have. It's funny, it's occasionally gross, but it's a wonderful journey.
FMI see my blog post at A Just Recompense.

[Catherine Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! The interwoven story lines work here. It feels so contemporary set against major events of the last 30 years. It’s a fascinating dive into the role of autopsies in what we know about the health of the human body. I learned quite a lot while being completely engaged in the lives of the characters.

[Ruthie Birger · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredible book. It's gripping, deep, laugh-out funny, and with characters so real they could step off the page. It alternately made me hungry, devastated, and for the first time ever, slightly regretful about not going to medical school. I loved it!

[Kelly Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

A strange, beautiful concept.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the best novel I’ve listened to this year. An inventive and unexpected story of life and death, with cooking and pathology forming the structure for a truly compelling and moving story. I don’t want to expose any details as the story subverts expectations in so many wonderful ways.

[Jen Dary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t even know what category to put this book into. What a weird, interesting, at times gross, combination of storylines. Really well done - and so memorable.

[Victoria Rios · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. I finished it 2 minutes ago and woah. It was so real and gory and funny all at the same time. I can’t say i’ve ever read something even close to this. Time for all my friends to read it too.

[Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

I heard about this book when Ashworth was interviewed on the podcast Majority 54 and I requested that my library buy it. I am so glad we have this in our collection. This book is absolutely singular. I have not read a book like this (and I've read a lot of books). Weirdly, I both did not give a shit about the main characters and I also cared about them a lot. I think the reason is that the main character is the state of being human and the main supporting character is love of food. It's a book about August Sweeney and Maya Zhu, but it's not really about them at all. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I know I'm going to be thinking about it for a while.

[Traci · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I know nothing about cooking or autopsies, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this.

[Zach · Rating 5 out of 5]

A novel told through the process of an autopsy might sound morbid, but The Death and Life of August Sweeney is about passion and verve and, yes, sometimes viscera. The two protagonists, a chef and his autopsist, are erudite and poetic within their areas of expertise, and author Samuel Ashworth weaves together the language of both, crafting an intricate hymn of praise to life and the bodies that contain it. A triumph of form and humanity.

[Alyssa Murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is gripping as all hell—ashworth is a master of suspense and blends hilarity with an emotional plot to craft a more-than-compelling story. amazing for fans of cooking shows, autopsies, and culture-bending narratives. i got through this book in a day, and i want to keep reading it again and again.

[Kyleigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

My only complaint is that it felt like, like the life of August Sweeney, it was over too soon. The characters were so well-established and very efficiently, too efficiently imo. The writing was beautiful and did so much with so little, but because it was so good, I wanted more.

[Greg Larson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliantly crafted novel about food, celebrity, and death – intense, hilarious, fun & very hard to put down.

[Lisa Kornetsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’d give it a 3.5 for the writing, but the premise was unusual and intriguing and it was a very good choice as an audiobook so I moved it up to a 4.

[Karen Thomson · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 this writer can definitely research, and they painting incredibly vivid pictures.

[KKUURRTT · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gonna recommend this book to everyone I know for the next five years (at least).

[SqueakyChu · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of August Sweeney, a man who is both alive and dead in different chapters of this book. As a living man, he is a famous chef of huge physical proportion; as a dead man, he is a corpse of mammoth proportion undergoing an autopsy. Narrating this story is the autopsist of August Sweeney, Dr. Zhu, who has to deal with her own father, suffering from mental deterioration due to a recent stroke, and with medical students observing and learning from the autopsy she is performing.

Delightful and creative writing make this story a joy to read. And the vocabulary! Periodically, I learned some interesting new words. And there’s Chinese in this book. Both the characters and the transliteration plus the meaning!! It was a poem. And the characters! Such unique individuals who would be interesting to meet in real life simply because of their depth. And the descriptions (as in the section about a sumptuous meal in a French restaurant)! This book was so rich in narrative and characters that I found it best to read one chapter at a time and then take a bit of time to savor what I just finished reading. And the things that happen in this story—so many were quite unexpected!! I highly recommend this unique and totally fun read.

[Parker Kaplan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enticing crossover of human anatomy and culinary expertise. The chapters alternate between either chronicling the meteoric rise of celebrity chef August Sweeney or trying to medically uncover the cause of death for said chef while he lays on a cooling board amongst a cast of characters.

The two main characters, Dr. Maya Zhu and August Sweeney, would appear entirely dissimilar at first thought. As you learn, they share a good deal in common. Both excel in fields that make most people squeamish (autopsies and cooking nontraditional animal parts). Both of their parents disapproved of their career paths. Both have complicated father-daughter relationships.

However, common threads weaved their lives together. This book explores morbidity, family dynamics, and people’s passion for their careers. Along the way, you’ll learn a lot about the restaurant industry and the way the human body and its organs function.

[Ravi Gupta · Rating 5 out of 5]

For readers who love to be transported to a world they know little about, "The Death and Life of August Sweeney" offers a captivating journey into the enigmatic world of forensic science. Sam Ashworth is a master storyteller, weaving intricate narratives with a keen eye for detail and a profound understanding of the human condition. In "The Death and Life of August Sweeney," Ashworth crafts a captivating and suspenseful novel that explores themes of identity, memory, and the enduring power of the past. With meticulous research bringing a sense of authenticity to his work, Ashworth draws readers into a world both familiar and utterly unique, where the lines between reality and illusion blur, and the consequences of buried secrets come to light.

[Trye Bn Gr8t · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was...interesting, disturbing and at times gross.

Would I recommend it?I f you are interested in books about Anatomy/Autopsies. Otherwise I think this book has a narrow window of people who will enjoy it. While at University I took Anatomy lab, and I currently work in a hospital so the descriptions in the book were not new to me.

Would I read more from this author? No. I don't like his style. Without going into details, the descriptions of one of the characters were quite crass.


TW: Death/Morgue/Autopsy descriptions,
**Note: Both 9-11 and Covid are mentioned in the book

[Ardath · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a complex and powerful experience, where autopsy is a metaphor for introspection and excess is celebrated. Within the framework of examining a body ooze so many stories, so many vivid images, so many technical and literary references. Parenthetical descriptions become garnishes to plot twists that cleverly surprise. Eating or dissecting organs, scalpels or paring knives, bowels or squid - all become tools in expertly crafted vignettes. This is a book to both savor and devour.

[Warren Ashworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two intensely compelling stories in one telling, brilliantly achieved. Though the subject matter is serious, the laughs are many, big, and come right on time every time. In the end the book turns out to be a mobius strip, which is a feat of magic that rises up and takes your breath away. I honestly stopped breathing for a long moment when I got to the end. And when the breath came back, I knew this was one of the most wholly complete novels I have ever read.

[Kimijo · Rating 5 out of 5]

When legendary chef August Sweeney dies mid-service, autopsist Dr. Maya Zhu is called to investigate under bizarre conditions set by the chef himself. As she dissects his body, Zhu finds herself entangled with Sweeney’s restless spirit, uncovering parallels between her ruthless ambition and his obsession with excess. The Death and Life of August Sweeney is an epic novel of life, death, art, and the haunting drive to be remembered

[Jason Kander · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m usually pretty squeamish about autopsy stuff, but I gave this book a shot and I’m so glad I did. I ripped through it. It’s hilarious and gave me a whole new appreciation for the human body - and for the restaurant industry, too. There were one or two moments where I was white-knuckling it a little, but it wasn’t gratuitous or gory. Hell of a book.

[Lucy Chen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-researched, compellingly written, and an absolute page turner for cooks, doctors, and everyone in-between. As a chef, I found Ashworth’s depictions of the August’s journey through professional kitchen life remarkably accurate. Squeamish as I am, I was not at all deterred by the more descriptive parts of the autopsy, as described through the eyes of a Chinese born pathologist. The juxtaposition of their personalities and experiences in death and in life weaves together a story that is unexpected, and offensively irresistible.