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Book Summary and Reviews of The Life of the World to Come by Dan Cluchey

The Life of the World to Come by Dan Cluchey

The Life of the World to Come

by Dan Cluchey

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  • Jun 2016, 256 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

At once obsessively readable, philosophically probing, and verbally acrobatic, The Life of the World to Come announces Dan Cluchey as a fresh new voice in fiction.

Leo Brice is dead, in a sense (not the traditional one). When the neurotic law student meets his cosmic match in Fiona Haeberle, an impulsive spirit and burgeoning soap star, all seems well - the two fall fast in love, and spend three years navigating their twenties in wide-eyed wonder.

But once the fantastical woman who had defined his future bolts to pursue a fantasy life of her own, Leo is forced to come to terms with a reality that more closely resembles an epilogue than the story he'd hoped it might be. Now a junior death row advocate, Leo immerses himself in the esoteric world of his condemned client, a born-again Georgia inmate named Michael Tiegs.

As both men become consumed by the question of an afterlife - and as Leo becomes increasingly confused by his own future and past - Tiegs' fate hangs in the balance. Leaning on his friends and grappling with his memories, Leo must try to save a client who may not want to be saved after all, even as he struggles to confront the prospect of his own mortality.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Featuring a dog named Rafael Uribe Uribe, this debut novel stays quirky even as it considers the big questions." - Library Journal

"Both timeless and timely ... a terrifically distilled love story." - Hannah Pittard, author of Reunion

"In these pages you'll find a wonderful gift, an engrossing story as hugely entertaining as it is genuinely insightful. Cluchey is a true wordsmith, possessing a whiplash inducing wit coupled with a talent for crafting beautiful moments that stop you still and demand to be savored." - Bradley Somer, author of Fishbowl

"The Life of the World to Come is like a strike across the jaw after you've fainted: it braces and wakes you. And just when you think you've found your bearings, it fells you once again. Dan Cluchey has written a smart, weird, heartful book that will whisper to you long after you've put it down." - Lindsay Hunter, author of Ugly Girls

"Smart, sad and crackling with wit, The Life of the World to Come is a book about love, life and what happens after. Cluchey captures the exquisite longing of youthful heartbreak with deep feeling and rich detail." - Christopher Noxon, author of Plus One

This information about The Life of the World to Come was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

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Judith S. (Binghamton, NY)

Best Read of 2016
Mr. Cluchey's book is terrific and the best I've read this year. I do read a lot. The author has put so much of himself into this book I can't imagine he has anything left and yet I'm looking forward to more. The plot is interesting and easy to follow. What makes the book special is the skill the author has in blending social and political commentary, philosophy and historical vignettes into the story with ease. The book is enjoyable, unusual, thought provoking, funny, heady and filled with great dialogue. I also enjoyed the fact that the chapters were not formulaic and short as is the case in many modern novels - some long, some short depending on the content. Reading this book is similar for an art film in that it requires active thought by the reader as opposed to just taking the reader for a ride. So looking forward to more from this author.

Kay K. (Oshkosh, WI)

Leo's World to Come
Leo Brice meets Fiona Maeberle and he becomes alive! Life with Fiona is perfect and Leo believes it will last forever. But of course, it doesn't! Leo is no longer alive without Fiona, and so Cluchey takes us on a journey with Leo to find out just what is being alive all about. It takes a death row prisoner to help Leo find out what life is really about. Considering the topic one wouldn't think the novel would be entertaining, but Cluchey does entertain the reader with Leo's over the top depression at losing Fiona, describing his wacky friends and Leo's despondency. But this is not a frivolous novel. Michael Tiegs supplies the meat to this novel. Through the interaction with Michael, a death row prisoner, Cluchey provides Leo the opportunity to explore deep philosophical ideas about what death is, and by understanding death, what life is all about.

Sarah H. (Arvada, CO)

The male answer to "chick lit"
I love the author's writing style. I love that he uses words I had to look up without seeming pretentious. I love that he writes conversation that sounds like some that I've had and would love to have with his characters! The story is somewhat common, guy gets girl, guy loses girl, guy is sad, guy decides to wax philosophical with a death row inmate. Okay, that last part isn't so common. The book is funny, sometimes deep, and very, very human.

Asha

Olam Ha-ba
So very grateful to have received this advance reader copy from BookBrowse.

A very satisfying philosophical book with simple truths about existence; life/death and the protagonists development from a college freshman to a lawyer who joins a non-profit that advocates for those on death row.

The story follows Leo, who having lost the love of his life staggers through the devastation, and finally comes to terms with this loss. The theme of eternal recurrence is often mentioned.

The protagonist's Jewish heritage and various ecclesiastical discussions of the Abrahamic religion and finding your Aolam Haba (the world to come) was very interesting ... I absolutely loved it and would highly recommend it, to both believers and the non-believers.

Jane N. (Little Egg Harbor, NJ)

A life
This is about love and loss and life and not in that order. There are many layers to the story and I enjoyed them. In many ways this could be the story of many people. As with the main character, we all fall in love, many get badly hurt and still find a life, as he does also. There is more to this book, but you really have to read it..it is beautifully written story that moved me. I hope it does the same for you.

Patricia G. (Dyer, IN)

Infinity and Beyond
Meeting Leo Brice, new-fledged lawyer and broken-hearted lover, was an experience. He gained my sympathy for his all out devastation when soulmate Fiona betrays him to pursue an advance to her acting career in the arms of a shallow fellow actor. But he gained my respect in his futile attempt to save the self-taught religious guru Michael Tiegs. His journey to discover meaning in life and death is handled tenderly and philosophically by author Dan Cluchey. I was caught up time and again in Cluchey's mastery of language, and I was moved to see Leo stumble through his evolution with humor and sincerity and humanity.

...12 more reader reviews

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Author Information

Dan Cluchey

Dan Cluchey is a native of Portland, Maine, and a former Obama Administration speechwriter and advisor. During his time in Washington, he wrote hundreds of speeches and op-eds on behalf of senior leaders throughout the Administration, on topics ranging from healthcare reform to international trade. A graduate of Amherst College and Harvard Law School, he lives in New Haven, CT. The Life of the World to Come is his first novel.

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