Mostly Dead Things
An Esquire Magazine Pick of Most Anticipated Books of 2019
A BuzzFeed Books Pick of Summer Audiobooks for Road-Tripping
A Huffington Post Pick of 2019 Books We're Looking Forward To
A Boston Globe Pick of Books We Can't Wait to Read
A Bustle Pick of 2019's Books to Add to Your Reading LIst
A Literary Hub Pick of Best Books of the Year
New York Times bestseller
A USA Today Pick for Celebrating Pride Month
A Chicago Review of Books Pick of Best Books of 2019 So Far
Paste Magazine Pick of Best of the Month
A New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice of the Week
An Electric Literature Pick of 15 Best Novels of the Year
A Slate Magazine Best Book of the Year in Audiobooks
A Vanity Fair Magazine Pick of Best Books of 2019
An Atlantic Best Book of 2019
Finalist for the Lambda Literary Award
One morning, Jessa-Lynn Morton walks into the family taxidermy shop to find that her father has committed suicide, right there on one of the metal tables. Shocked and grieving, Jessa steps up to manage the failing business, while the rest of the Morton family crumbles. Her mother starts sneaking into the shop to make aggressively lewd art with the taxidermied animals. Her brother Milo withdraws, struggling to function. And Brynn, Milo’s wife―and the only person Jessa’s ever been in love with―walks out without a word.
As Jessa seeks out less-than-legal ways of generating income, her mother’s art escalates―picture a figure of her dead husband and a stuffed buffalo in an uncomfortably sexual pose―and the Mortons reach a tipping point. For the first time, Jessa has no choice but to learn who these people truly are, and ultimately how she fits alongside them.
Kristen Arnett’s debut novel is a darkly funny, heart-wrenching, and eccentric look at loss and love.
Praise