Life After Death

by Michael Gerber

Michael Gerber’s satirical novel Life After Death for Beginners follows Tom Larkin, an impossibly famous rock icon who dies at the hands of a deranged fan—or so the world believes. In reality, Tom narrowly escapes with his life; as he recuperates in a secret hospital for the super-rich, his loving but imperious wife Katrinka becomes convinced that it’s safer for everyone if Tom stays dead. Reluctantly, Tom agrees to live out his days in obscurity… until an old enemy reveals that he is still in danger. Stripped of his former fame and access, Tom has to figure out who tried to kill him without publicly revealing his survival. His search leads him back to his old life, to the manager who made him a star; to the other three members of The Ravins, each dealing with his legacy in their own way; to his estranged daughter and the son who thinks he’s dead and of course, to Katrinka, the eccentric, devoted, public face of the Larkin myth.

Genres: Fiction

298 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 31, 2010

About the author

Parodist, author of Barry Trotter series, parodies of Harry Potter books. Also known as Mike Gerber or Michael Allen Gerber.

For the business author, see Michael E. Gerber.

Reviews

[Peacegal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This. THIS! I have a new one to add to my Favorites list. Life After Death for Beginners is truly a rare gem, and there's a certain type of person who will appreciate it.

If you are a Beatles person--and by that I mean not just someone who nods along whenever "Hey Jude" comes on the radio but the type who devours Beatles books and hoards bootlegs--AND you have a sense of humor and enjoy creativity (which of course you do, because you appreciate the Beatles), this is your novel. The more lore you know, the more jokes and references you will catch.

I love how the author didn't just re-spout Beatles fanfic (there are enough of those online anyway), but rather created his own satiric world, inspired by something he clearly loves.

[Jlef__ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mike Gerber is a huge Beatles fan and runs probably the most in-depth and intelligent beatles blog on the internet. This book seems to essentially be his passion project, which is kinda funny for such a huge fan and sophisticate because it’s a pretty light pulp novel that, for all its research, takes some big leaps of plausibility (the presumed-dead, but alive, John Lennon shows up to a seance claiming to talk to him, and somehow nobody’s ever on his tail). That said the characterization of the lads is excellent (especially a rare, and quite insightful, perspective on Ringo pre-sobriety) and it’s got a pretty charitable, if cartoonish, portrayal of Yoko. It’s funny enough, and I really like Gerber’s ideas on how modern pop culture came to be—some of his preachings, on celebrity, addiction, politics, and spirituality, are basically present in novel/dialogue form. This was a fun fanfic romp.

[Kate Kaynak · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has wonderful, LOL moments that you'll love, and it reminded me of Joseph Heller's GOD KNOWS.

[Stone · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting idea but boring.