Postcards from a Dead Girl

by Kirk Farber

Overview

“Kirk Farber has a style very similar to Chuck Palahniuk, with offbeat observations, a view of our world through a slightly distorted lens, and a tone that’s … hilarious and tragic at the same time.” — Garth Stein, author of The Art of Racing in the Rain

A touching, almost cinematic, debut novel featuring the eccentric, slightly disturbed, and unique character Sid, who finds himself—among various other darkly comic scenarios—obsessed by the mysterious European postcards that arrive in the mail from his ex-girlfriend.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061834479
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	02/16/2010
Series:	P.S. Series
Pages:	258
Product dimensions:	5.38(w) x 7.98(h) x 0.69(d)

About the Author

Kirk Farber lives with his family in Colorado, where he writes and works at a library with a lovely mountain view.

What People are Saying About This

Garth Stein

Kirk Farber has a style very similar to Chuck Palahniuk, with offbeat observations, a view of our world through a slightly distorted lens, and a tone that’s quite fun and sometimes hilarious and tragic at the same time. I love the voice and irreverence and humor.

Josh Kilmer-Purcell

Dark. Funny. Bizarre. Mysterious. Fantastic. Kirk Farber’s Postcards from a Dead Girl is a polished gem. Farber’s uniquely quirky protagonist reflects our own personal obsessions, pinning us in limbo while simultaneously prodding us towards adventure.

Editorial Reviews

Kirk Farber has a style very similar to Chuck Palahniuk, with offbeat observations, a view of our world through a slightly distorted lens, and a tone that’s quite fun and sometimes hilarious and tragic at the same time. I love the voice and irreverence and humor. — Garth Stein, author of The Art of Racing in the Rain

Dark. Funny. Bizarre. Mysterious. Fantastic. Kirk Farber’s Postcards from a Dead Girl is a polished gem. Farber’s uniquely quirky protagonist reflects our own personal obsessions, pinning us in limbo while simultaneously prodding us towards adventure. — Josh Kilmer-Purcell, author of I Am Not Myself These Days

A witty, tormented hero surrounded by fascinating, compassionate supporting characters makes this slender debut a surprisingly compulsive read. — Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

Kirk Farber has a style very similar to Chuck Palahniuk, with offbeat observations, a view of our world through a slightly distorted lens, and a tone that’s quite fun and sometimes hilarious and tragic at the same time. I love the voice and irreverence and humor.

Garth Stein

Dark. Funny. Bizarre. Mysterious. Fantastic. Kirk Farber’s Postcards from a Dead Girl is a polished gem. Farber’s uniquely quirky protagonist reflects our own personal obsessions, pinning us in limbo while simultaneously prodding us towards adventure.

Josh Kilmer-Purcell

Sid Higgins, the appealing, self-deprecating narrator of Farber’s poignant, funny debut, has been receiving postcards from his old girlfriend Zoe. Unfortunately, the whimsical Zoe has disappeared, and the postmarks on the cards are more than a year old. Though he doesn’t really expect to find her, Sid travels to Europe in search of Zoe. Since Sid works for a travel agency, a slick telephone operation that uses the amusingly named Randomizer to dial potential clients, the trip is easy to arrange. Sid plaintively and self-mockingly relates his interactions with his boss, Steve; his neighbor, “Gerald the Post Office Guy”; and, most of all, his dog, Zero, whose deftly described postures convey so much, though perhaps not quite as much as Sid reads into them. Sid’s older sister, Natalie, a doctor who provides welcome perspective on Sid, is by turns affectionate, irritated, supportive, and occasionally fed up. The reader is likely to feel the same. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

High-strung young man grappling with grief and possibly supernatural incidents tries to pull himself together in Farber's quirky psychological potboiler. This we know: Sid was with Zoe, but Zoe is now gone. But where exactly is she? Sid has reason to be confused, what with the steady stream of postcards from exotic locations that he continues to receive from his one-time girlfriend. Is she on an extended world tour, or writing from the beyond? Mind you, Sid might not be the most reliable narrator of events. The spirit of his dead mother communicates with him via an old bottle of Bordeaux, and he digs a mud "spa" in his yard that looks suspiciously like a grave. He also confides (to a point) in his no-nonsense sister Natalie, a busy physician expecting her first child who seems weary of Sid's issues. Suspecting that his problems might be physical, she encourages him to undergo a CAT scan. But while waiting for the results, he jets off to Europe to see if he can get to the bottom of the Zoe mystery. Back home, he pieces together memories of a trauma and talks to his dog Zero. Candyce, a chatty hipster who works for his doctor, pursues Sid while he pines for a tranquil mystery woman he spies in his yoga class. He names her Jane, and she haunts his dreams; then a coincidence brings them together. Sid's various demons continue to torment him, though, and he needs to come to terms with some hard truths about himself before he can embrace new love. A witty, tormented hero surrounded by fascinating, compassionate supporting characters makes this slender debut a surprisingly compulsive read.

Kirkus Reviews