{"product_id":"the-joy-of-funerals-9798988500018","title":"The Joy of Funerals","description":"\u003cp\u003e20th Anniversary Edition\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom the very first page, readers are drawn into the strange, often humorous world where nine women grapple with sex, power, love, and death. Meet a widow who lusts...a daughter who aches...a lover who obsesses...a shopaholic who hungers... a daredevil who desires...a single woman who longs...an outsider who hopes...an artist who craves...and a funeral-junkie who needs. These are the women who inhabit the eerily honest, often heartbreaking world Alix Strauss has created in \u003cem\u003eThe Joy of Funerals.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThroughout this powerful and provocative collection, these characters explore the basic need for human connection while seeking to understand themselves better. It is the 'where do I belong' and the 'how do I fit in' that these sad, bright and amazingly strong women seek to answer.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \"Recovering Larry,\" a woman mourns for her dead husband by having sex with grieving men. In \"Shrinking Away,\" a woman pays a daring shiva call on her psychiatrist's widow. \"Swimming Without Annette\" explores a woman's obsession with her wife's killer, while \"Still Life\" peers into the life of a pregnant artist who wishes to paint herself out of a bad marriage and into a prettier world. In \"Post-Dated,\" a single woman wonders if her recently defunct date was perhaps the perfect man.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRead independently, these vivid and raw stories stand on their own. When read as a collection, they are anchored together by the novella, \"The Joy of Funerals,\" which follows the life of Nina, a lonely, single thirty-something woman who attends the funerals of the deceased characters in the previous stories.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBegun as an essay in the \u003cem\u003eLives\u003c\/em\u003e column of \u003cem\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cem\u003emagazine\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Joy of Funerals\u003c\/em\u003e is written with raw wit, mordant humor and a uniquely penetrating voice as Strauss turns the spotlight on the unattractive subjects of loss, grief and loneliness.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Joy of Funerals is an Ingram Award winner and was named Best Debut Novel by The New York Resident.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Palagram Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50610189238546,"sku":"9798988500018","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_f38c1879-430c-46b6-8e6e-e64ff502354a.jpg?v=1732335782","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-joy-of-funerals-9798988500018","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}