The Living End

From Library JournalGeorge Guidall provides a perfectly timed performance of author Elkin's comic vision of the afterlife. It chronicles the hapless adventures of several human souls as they make their way through the underworld and paradise. God is portrayed as a vain, childish dilettante unhappily seeking appreciation for and from his creation. The various suffering humans are portrayed with wry sympathy, but none of the souls are particularly memorable. The ironies are obvious?a decent hardworking character is damned while an amoral schemer is accidentally sent to heaven. The scenes of hell are horrific, but Dante's Inferno (Audio Reviews, LJ 10/15/97) is more so, and it is hard to see what new insights Elkin brings to his subject. Guidall's reading is full of dry and melancholy wit, but the book itself consistently falls short. Not recommended.?John Owen, Advanced Micro Devices, Santa Clara, CACopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review“An inspired fantasy superbly executed.” —_Time_

“Elkin’s books are magical riffs of irreverent wisdom.” —_The_ Washington Post