Baby Got Backlist: The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier

Baby Got Backlist is a column in support of older titles that I feel should still be getting love and attention.

So there’s an epic blizzard hitting the East Coast right now, but for some reason, it’s not snowing in Maine. My Instagram feed is full of pictures of snow, but my yard is empty. It’s so weird to not have snow here. It just feels so unnatural. (Peter Gabriel too.)

But snow or no snow, I want to tell you about one of my favorite winter reads: The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier. This is a perfect book for snowstorms! The main character is in the Antarctic – it doesn’t get much more snowy than that.

First you need to know about The City. It’s a place where the dead reside, and as long as there is still someone alive on Earth who remembers them, they continue to live there.

Now you have Laura Byrd. She’s a scientist working alone at a research center in Antarctica. While she’s there, a deadly virus breaks out and kills all the other people on Earth. See where this is going? Now that everyone is dead except Laura, the only people left in The City are people she remembers.

Really freaking cool, right?!? I love this book so much. I can’t believe it only came out ten years ago. I feel like I’ve been carrying it around in my heart my whole life.

Not only is this book amazing, but Kevin Brockmeier is fantastic. I highly recommend all his books and that if you ever meet him, you give him my phone number. They have this ethereal feeling to them, and are so beautiful and unique. KEVIN I LOVE YOU. The Illuminations is my other favorite of his, about people who bleed light from their wounds. He’s so amazing! But you don’t have to take my word for it. Start small: Read his short story The Ceiling and see what all the fuss is about.

That’s my snowstorm recommendation for you. What books do you like to read in winter?

KEVIN! CALL ME!