Postcards from a Dead Girl: A Novel (P.S.)

Sid is funny. Sid works as a telemarketer selling “great getaways” to foreign countries, yet Sid doesn’t really doesn’t travel. Sid has funny conversations with his dog, Zero (though Sid can’t really explain how, when or where he got the dog). He is waiting forever for his CAT scan results, to tell him when and if he’s dying since he randomly smells lilacs and talks to his dead mother in an old bottle of Boudreaux. His annoying next door neighbor, Mary Jo, a juvenile brat taunts him incessantly. He digs a hole in his backyard to further his spa mud bath fix and has a serious problem not accepting credit card offers.

Sid strikes up a relationship with Gerald, the postman neighbor, who has built a bomb shelter. Instead of show more food, and unable to answer the question – if you can only read one book for the rest of your life – what would you read; Gerald has outfitted the shelter with aisle upon aisle of books. And one more thing, Sid has been receiving postcards from his (most likely) dead girlfriend. He starts a trek through Paris and Spain to try and understand the origin of these cards but is left with only questions.

Sid is engaging and a little bit sad. He is not sure where his life is going, not sure what he’s doing, and not sure what happened with his relationship with Zoe, the sender of the cards. He is brutally honest, heartfelt, quirky, and…lost. He often misinterprets basic conversations - two in particular (with his doctor and his boss) where I seriously laughed (very loudly) during my morning commute. You want to cheer for him; you hope he emerges from his mud bath, cleaner, happier, and ready to brave the world again. And at the end, when there are answers to the questions that have been mounting throughout the book, you understand why he’s in pain, why he’s lost, and maybe how he can heal.

I felt ready for the conclusion when it came. I didn’t feel shortchanged or slighted, as some of the other reviews point out. I thought Farber tied up all the loose ends and brought around the resolution well and timely. show less

This addictive odd book grabbed me from the first line. The chapters are brief but our narrator, Sid, is warm, interesting, neurotic, funny and ultimately, very likable. I cared about his crazy. This book could have easily gone into cloyingly quirky but instead kept it's slightly melancholy edge. There's real sadness, heartache, and pain in Sid's adventure and I was an eager companion the entire way.

Infused with dark sarcasm and witty humor, Postcards from a Dead Girl is a fabulous and extraordinarily written debut novel from Kirk Farber. It’s a completely unique, page-turning book about a hypochondriac who receives postcards from around the globe from his ex-girlfriend Zoe. Thoughtful, perhaps. Even sweet. However, there’s a clincher: the postcards were sent one year ago, throwing Sid into quite a conundrum. He sets off on his own investigation to London, Paris, Barcelona, New Jersey [!] to find out the back-story how this late delivery is remotely possible. In the meantime he finds support from his dog Zero, his protective doctor sister, his neighbor, postal carrier Gerard, and his dead mother. Tapping into universal neuroses show more and dreams, Farber writes with a clever and superbly observational tone. Postcards from a Dead Girlis biting, disturbing and hysterical. Trust me: it’s a winning combination. show less

How often do you get to read quirky stories about people inured in their own inner stories...written by people you know?

Kirk's story is just fun, and though the narrative is very punchy that sometimes makes the whole thing feel like the set up for a joke (didja hear the one about the guy who couldn't get enough of car washes?), it is tinged with a realistic sadness that is driving the protagonist character (Sid) to distraction, and morbid distraction at that.

And besides, Kirk's a great guy. Go read his book!

Sweet, poignant, but a bit sketchy. I felt as though the characters were languishing for lack of a larger context, and the story itself ended too quickly (not abruptly, exactly, but before the reader is quite ready to let go of it). Still, it's not a bad thing for a debut novel to leave you wanting more, and Kirk Faber is certainly a promising writer. Who could not wish success for someone who writes by night and processes esoteric ILL requests by day?

Kirk Farber has written a really interesting story, in "Postcards from a Dead Girl". Sid works at a cold call center, selling vacations. He has some serious issues. His girlfriend Zoe disappeared a year ago, but she has been sending him postcards from all over the world. His Mothers ghost lives in a bottle of '67 Bordeaux, and she whines to him on a regular basis. Oh yeah, he might have a brain tumor.

Poor Sid, he is one hot mess! This book is both funny and sad. As Sid juggles his awful job with his search for Zoe, he is barely holding it together. While he gets closer to the truth, as well as a diagnosis, Sid seems to discover more about the people around him, and about himself.

I think Farber gave up a little too much, too soon, but I show more really enjoyed the storyline and the writing.

I received this book from Harper Perennial. Thank you! show less

Any time I read a new title - particularly an Advance Reader's Copy - I tend to keep a running scale in my head of where I think the book will rate. Throughout Postcards from a Dead Girl, my opinion ranked it steadily in the 3 star area, sometimes drifting even a little higher.

Then the book ended, and I wondered if negative ratings were allowed.

It's not that the ending of this novel was bad, it was more like a "non event". As the end was nearing, I knew I was in trouble. There were far too many plot points, interesting characters, anecdotes and situations left untethered to be resolved and fully integrated within the last few chapters.

I believe this is Farber's debut work (no other titles are listed on LibraryThing), and if that's show more the case, I am not surprised. It's as if he had been keeping post-it notes next to his computer for the past several years, and this was his one chance to get all of his interesting tidbits included in his book.

At times, the book read very well. Not particularly awe inspiring, but the premise of a man receiving post cards in his mailbox from his girlfriend who died a year earlier seemed promising. It's quirky; the story isn't necessarily written as a mystery (which was a good thing in my opinion); and the progress (and side tracks) keep the story moving. My difficulty came when the better components just seemed to end and potentially interesting characters and events remained flat and uninspired.

The bones are there, Farber just needs an editor to keep him focused. show less