The Celebrants

The celebrants: five college friends from Berkeley who used to be six until one unexpectedly dies.

“They went to bed exactly two weeks before graduation thinking they would live forever and woke up to the last real lesson that college would teach them: all that begins, ends” (23).

Taking that lesson to heart, the five remaining friends enter a pact where each can invoke their own funeral at any point in life—a low-point, a traumatic tipping point, a rebirth point. This one-time funeral will serve to function as a reserve parachute when the main parachute of life doesn’t deploy. When you’re plummeting to the hard earth, pull the reserve, call in the funeral, and your closest college friends will be there to remind you: “to show more live in the present, to live for yourself, … that [you] were never as alone as [you] thought” and to “leave nothing left unsaid” (288, 214).

The book unfolds in the sequential order that each person calls for their own funeral, and while the events that precipitate each funeral are melancholic moments, the funerals themselves are full of humor and tenderness. They’re really made up of all the ingredients of a good reunion with old friends: emotional purging and laugh-out-loud scenarios and enlightening therapy. In the same way, this read is like a reunion with an old friend and one I’d highly recommend reuniting with—you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll feel hopeful, even knowing that “all that begins, ends.” show less

Rowley’s beautifully written book is a stark reminder that we should tell our special friends how much they mean to us. After seeing numerous summaries that compared the book to “The Big Chill,” I almost passed on reading “The Celebrants” (I wasn’t a big fan of the 1980s flick.) I’m glad I ignored my inner voice. The book is a delightful story based on an intriguing premise: Longtime friends who lost a cherished classmate in college make a pact to stage “living funerals” so that “nothing is left unsaid.” Their animated reunions over a period of years include an eclectic mix of activities that range from skydiving to encounters with an Ouija board. A couple of the sections could have moved a tad faster, but I show more genuinely enjoyed the book. I’ve even placed Rowley’s “The Guncle” on my bulging “to read” list. show less

Sentimental, sweet, but also sassy and over the top; this story of college friends will win over most readers. At the end of their college career in the 90's their friend group loses Alec to an overdose. Jordan, Jordy, Naomi, Craig, and Marielle are distraught. They had so many things they wish they could have said to him. While drinking and mourning Alec they decide to create a pact, a pact that will allow each of them to have a funeral while living so they can all say what is on their hearts. Well life happened and they grew up and grew apart (except for the Jordans, they got married), the pact was nearly forgotten until they all get a call from Marielle whose divorce has sent her spiraling. The Celebrants covers all the friends and show more their funerals and is extremely witty and wild - bordering at times obnoxious but still good fun. show less

Southeast Asia has been very unkind to my digestive track. So in the last days of my travels I am laying, in a dark Bangkok hotel room in fetal position while my family enjoys the city. I am fortunate to have audiobooks to keep me company. I have been listening to this book for a while. I was not feeling wildly driven to complete it, but also I found it too genial to abandon. Today's situation seemed an ideal moment to get it done.

I liked Rowley's last book, The Guncle in spite of its many saccharine moments, but this was too cutesy for me. The story starts with a group of new Berkeley grads hunkered down at the Big Sur beach house belonging to the parents of one, Naomi, as they deal with the OD death of one of their group. (Accidental show more or suicide never clear.) They agree to come together for living funerals for each, to be held at the behest of the non-deceased when they feel they need it. Everyone gets only one. The group grows apart over the years, but one of them puts out the bat signal about 18 years later the all honor the pact, and over the next decade each has their moment So yeah, this starts with a grand contrivance and proceeds with more and more contrivances. At one of the :funerals it is revealed that one of the group has been collecting appropriate quotes in his notes app so he is ready to eulogize at the drop of a hat. (Almost all the quotes come from PBS icons, which is so freaking on brand I wanted to throw my phone.) Anyway, the staleness of those quotes, and the act of keeping the list rather than crafting something original is a perfect metaphor for this book as a whole. This is a Frankenstein's monster of cobbled together tropes from a bunch of movies but made gayer. The Guncle had saccharine moments but this is like eating a teaspoon of Sweet and Low straight. show less

I loved the concept and the main message behind the book, truly we do only live once and it's important to make an impact while we're here for our only time around.

However, I just found the characters so insufferable. T the point where I at times really questioned why any of these people are friends with one another. Plus, to me, it felt like subtle, yet passive-aggressive attacks on cis-gender, hetero men through a very banshee-esqe lens of what the author seems to be trying to convey as feminism.

I considered not finishing this book but wanted to see it through - not a fan.

Jordan, Jordy, Naomi, Craig, Marielle and Alec were best friends at Berkley. When Alec dies before graduation, the rest of them make a pact that they will all have living funerals. That is, when one of them is needing support, they will call on the rest of them to gather for their “funeral.” That way, they get to hear all of the nice things their friends have to say about them versus waiting until their actual funeral when they would not be able to benefit from hearing them.

For instance, Marielle called the group together when she was going through a divorce and Craig’s funeral was because he was having some serious legal problems. Now Jorden has called them together but no one is sure why.

The friend group in The Celebrants is show more made up of friends who don’t actually do a very good job of keeping in touch in between funerals, but once they get together, they pick right up where they left off. I think we all have friends like that. You love them but sometimes life gets in the way.

Like The Guncle, The Celebrants is the perfect blend of humor and heartbreak. Steven Rowley is now on my automatic buy list for sure. Highly recommended. show less

The Short of It:

Big Chill vibes with a slightly darker undertone.

The Rest of It:

A group of friends come together in Big Sur to fulfill a pact made over a decade ago. The pact in question? To throw living “funerals” so that they can enjoy them and fully realize what their lives meant to one another. The sweet memories of the deceased cannot possibly be shared with them but sharing them before they are actually in the ground? Makes perfect sense.

But one of the friends is keeping a secret. A diagnosis which could send them all into a tail spin. The idea of living funerals is a novel one, but to think that one may actually be needed for one of their own, adds a dark cloud to the gathering.

I was expecting a lighter read given the book show more cover and the title but it’s actually quite thought-provoking and at times very somber. It has its funny moments but for every chuckle there is a more serious tone that sneaks its way into the story. I found myself pausing to reflect on my friendships of year’s past. Honestly, it’s a good reminder that the life we are living is temporary at best. Friendships matter and the choices we make do affect us in the long run.

If you are looking for a bubbly book to kick-off your summer reading, this may not be it but if you enjoy contemplative novels about friends, then toss this into your book bag.

For more reviews, visit my blog: Book Chatter. show less