Afterword

by Jeremy Bibaud

Twelve of the weirdest and wildest jobs you never knew existed.

Take a journey through time in this genre-bending story collection and witness the lives of twelve fictional characters working some of history’s strangest professions that no longer exist.

Heppiri Otoko, a man born with the embarrassing ability to manipulate the sounds of his bodily gas into music, answers the call to help one of history’s greatest composers find his love of music when he is stricken deaf. Francisco Silva must make a choice between two lives. As the world’s last archmime, history’s most perplexing jesters, it’s his duty to perform an impression of the recently deceased at the front of a funeral procession for someone uncomfortably close to him. Can he honour the family while remaining true to the wishes of the dead? Wendy Chapman is the world’s first female Wha-Wants-Me Man. If wandering the ancient streets of Edinburgh’s Old Town offering to rent her portable toilet to anyone in need wasn’t distasteful enough, the constant pressure of her rivals in this male-dominated space and the awkward romantic advances from her customers might be enough to make her quit altogether.

These and nine other stories use some of history’s most unbelievable occupations as jumping off points to explore deeper themes that reveal parallels between the people who worked the jobs of yesterday and the challenges we face today.

Afterword blends literary fiction, magical realism, horror, absurdism, fables, science fiction, and more into a single riveting package. If you like award-winning fiction grounded in history, you’ll love this inventive debut by Jeremy Bibaud.

"Bibaud weaves real-life work with fictional characters to create thought-provoking stories, some that veer into the deeply morose and others that are outright hilarious.... Afterword is so completely different from anything I have read before and the combination of normal, everyday people of the past performing work that is anything but normal and everyday is just perfect. Jeremy Bibaud writes with the skill of a seasoned author and the dark humor he imparts is twisted and morbid, intelligent and witty.... Beautiful. Unusual. Creative. Very highly recommended." ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ —Readers' Favorite

150 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 1, 2022

About the author

Jeremy Bibaud is a Canadian writer living in Edmonton, Alberta, and editor of the award-winning Funicular Magazine, which publishes short fiction and poetry. His fiction most recently won F(r)iction’s Summer Literary Contest, judged by Nebula and Locus Award winner Alyssa Wong. His stories have been found on hundreds of coffee cups, in Canada’s first short story machine, and in publications like FreeFall, F(r)iction, Short Edition, YEGWords, Burning Water, and Dactyl.

His first publication, Afterword, a collection of 12 pieces of short historical fiction, is available now.

Reviews

[Bandit · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are dead-end jobs in dead-end industries. And then there are jobs that merely become obsolete with times, fall by the wayside of the relentless march of progress. In fact, the very progress of civilization can be bookmarked by those vanished professions.
This is a collection of twelve stories about those jobs, from medieval times to relatively recent ones. And they are terrific. Not the jobs, mind you, some of the jobs are absolutely disgusting and some, like the flatulist, are disgustingly hilarious. But the stories about these jobs are terrific.
I always loved a themed anthology, and this is such a clever and original theme and each tale in this collection does its theme justice. Lovely, lovely stories in a variety of genres from historical fiction to comedy to magic realism and more.
This was a completely random Kindle freebie find that came up in a search for something more along the more horrific lines (something this collection merely grazes upon), and definitely one of the more auspicious ones I’ve come across in a long time. Clever, original, very well-written, professionally edited, and plenty entertaining. Informative too, some of those jobs...who knew.
At just 150 pages, it’s s a quick and charming read. Recommended.

This and more at https://advancetheplot.weebly.com/

[Gerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first book I've ever read twice and will become the first book I'll be browsing through to reread those parts of each story that made me think "how did he ever imagine that?" Truly magical. The words bounced off the pages right into my imagination and emotions. I found my eyes moistening up in one story, then chuckling in another, and at times had to lower the book to my lap just so I could enjoy the picture that had just been so vividly written into my mind. Some of the stories will go deep... if you let them. Others will leave you wondering. At least two will leave you smiling. All will most certainly touch that place in your mind that's "way out there." Absolutely first-class reading material. Loved it!

[Scott Christian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bibaud's an incredible storyteller. This collection of stories are a journey. Sometimes inspiring, othertimes haunting, always thought provoking and engaging as a reader. I thoroughly enjoyed Afterword.

[Amy Dixon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super unique and interesting collection of short stories that are beautifully written. I love the concept of exploring “dead jobs”. It’s hard to believe some of these were actually real occupations (they are pretty out there!) but I enjoyed learning about them and the characters through the stories. A very enjoyable read!

[humansreading · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're into spooky, this is your jam!

This was a really good read with a mind-blowing and captivating collection of short stories. I enjoyed all the stories but I was especially enthralled by 'Chandler', 'Afterword', 'Blue Bird' and 'Death Mask'. The stories in this collection would be perfect for the upcoming spooky season. There were twists, there was adventure, there was even a bit of sci-fi and horror. The stories truly brought out Bibaud's creativity and I look forward to reading more from him.

[Jeff Gordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic first collection from a very promising author, one who clearly has spent his time preparing his works for this compilation. "This Story Is Not About You" and "This Glorious Thought" are two standouts and my personal favorites, although every piece here contributes to the whole. Pick this collection up.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed these. The writing is gorgeous and creative. I love the way each story introduced me to a different job and then usually went in a completely unexpected direction with it. It's a bit of a mix of genres, so YMMV, but I liked the variety and I found a few stories I liked so much I read them a couple times already. I'm not sure I'd say ALL the jobs are the weirdest and wildest like it claims, but the majority are and the ones that aren't are still great stories.

[Thomas Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got this free from the author's website. Some of these jobs are almost unbelievable. I'd never heard of most of them. Fun read and an unexpected mix of stories. Even had some sci-fi in there that I didn't expect. Couple stories didn't work for me but overall a good collection.

[Kendra Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved every moment of this quippy collection of shorts.
Warning: Afterword will have you questioning your choice to go to college. Who wants to be an accountant when you could be an archimime? Excited to see what comes next from Jeremy Bibaud.

[Ellen Bibaud · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was very well written. I read it a few pages at a time just so I could absorb the things that Jeremy wrote. Each of the twelve jobs that he picked to put into his book were very thought provoking. I found some humour in it as well as a little sadness and much much more. Jeremy you are an amazing author and your writing is spectacular. Thank you for writing this book.

[Kim W · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can try to prepare yourself for this collection of stories, but it won't make a difference. There's no way one could ever expect the people, places, and—most of all—jobs, that live within these pages, and that's what makes this collection an absolute delight to read.
Afterword travels through time in all possible (or impossible?) directions and, through vivid characterization and eerily beautiful description, brings the reader on a tour of twelve of the most unbelievable jobs.
I read the collection in one late-night sitting, and I was in a constant tug-of-war with myself; the book reads so smoothly that it's easy to chomp it down in one go, but I kept wanting to slow down and savour every clever turn of phrase, every thoughtful detail, every expertly selected word. I loved the whole collection and wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone looking for something new and completely original to read.

[Sterlingcindysu · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick free read for Kindle from Amazon. Such a clever collection of short stories about the "last" employee of a job that no longer exists, such as a lamplighter.

Anyone over 60 may have actually be in that situation! I remember being in a typing pool. I don't think that job exists anymore.



I think one of the jobs Bibaud made up, a flatulist but the story is very imaginative! And I have no doubt politicians still use Nomenclators but just call them assistants.