Final Arrangements: A Novel

By Miles Keaton Andrew

Book Overview

A black comedy as hip and quirky as "Six Feet Under, " this no-holds-barred look at the funeral industry is every bit as funny as it is gruesome.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312313624
• ISBN13: 9780312313623
• Release Date: August 2003
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.4" x 0.8" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

One of the best books I've read in years

I've never written review for a book before, at least not here. The reason is simply because I have never before come across a book that I enjoyed as much as Final Arrangements by Miles Keaton Andrew.When I first picked up the book, I admit it was the author photo that intrigued me. It's an overhead shot of the author lying in an open grave. Seeing this gave me an idea of just how original and jaded the author's sense of humor would be. It was nothing compared to the story and the characters.The story gets into your brain. When I finished the book, I started it again. It's just that good.Miles Keaton Andrew is definately an author that we will be hearing a lot from in the future. This book has become one of my all time favorites. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Funniest Book I Ever Read!

How long has it been since you embarrassed yourself laughing out loud on the train ride home? This one did it for me. How long has it been since you fell in love with fictional characters? I hated to see them go. I laughed, I cried, and when it was all over, how I hated turning that last page! A must read. Casey Kight lives! Natalie is deathy as hell!

Do Yourself A Favor and READ THIS BOOK!!

Final Arrangements was really a great read. I absolutely LOVED each and every character in the book. At first it was a little difficult to get the family tree down, but the more I read, the easier it was to understand.I laughed out loud at points while reading this WONDERFUL story! It is hard to believe that the author could put such a great spin on such a morbid topic, but he managed to do it with a flair unmatched by any other author I have ever read.Absolutely in my TOP 10 Books of All Time!!! Give yourself a treat and read this book!!

I LOVE this book

I enjoyed this book immensely. ...if you like "Six Feet Under", you will probably enjoy this book. Face it: this is a business most of us hope to have as little contact as possible with, but it is fascinating to learn about (just don't ask me to ever DO this job).Beware, however: there are sections of this not for the squeamish. If you are sensitive on the subject of death, you may be offended by some of the dark humor (I suspect that if you work in this business, you have to be able to maintain a sense of humor to keep you going through the grief around you).

I am dying to tell you about this book

Death follows Casey Kight everywhere he goes it seems. He has been obsessed with becoming an undertaker since his parents died in a plane crash when he was nine, where he found comfort within the walls of Morton Albright, a family run funeral home, fighting to stay independent while threatened by a huge corporation. Casey is a "natural", drawn to all aspects of the morbid trade. He soon takes up with the owner's daughter, eccentric and strangely lovable "deathy obsessed" Natalie who everyone within the funeral home wants him to marry, to produce a male heir to foil an inner family conspiracy to sell Morton Albright out from under the family out of sheer spite. Be warned this book is dark, often graphic and liberally sprinkled with post-mortem detail. Sometimes uncomfortably too much information is present about the corpses lying in wait for burial and their preparation techniques, yet Andrew has accomplished a difficult task; bringing together rather distasteful scenes, humorous and delightful dialogue and wonderfully three dimensional characters into a page turning book. It has been some time since a book made me laugh aloud like this one. Andrew's debut novel is written from obvious experience and his well-crafted characters come alive though people are dying all around them.