Pretend I'm Dead

A Novel

By: Jen Beagin

Narrated by: Candace Thaxton

NAMED A BEST BOOK of the YEAR by O, THE OPRAH MAGAZINE, REFINERY 29, and KIRKUS REVIEWS
SHORTLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE

The “wondrous” (O, The Oprah Magazine), “scathingly funny” (Entertainment Weekly) debut from Whiting Award winner and author of Big Swiss Jen Beagin about a cleaning lady named Mona and her quest for self-acceptance.

Jen Beagin’s funny, moving, fearless debut novel introduces an unforgettable character, Mona—almost twenty-four, emotionally adrift, and cleaning houses to get by. She falls for a man she calls Mr. Disgusting, who proceeds to break her heart in unimaginable ways.

In search of healing, she decamps to Taos, New Mexico, for a fresh start, where she finds a community of cast-offs, all of whom have something to teach her—the pajama-wearing, blissed-out New Agers, the slightly creepy client with peculiar tastes in controlled substances, the psychic who might really be psychic. But always lurking just beneath the surface are her memories of growing up in a chaotic, destructive family from which she’s trying to disentangle herself, and the larger legacy of the past.

The story of Mona’s quest for belonging in this world is at once hilarious and wonderfully strange, true to life and boldly human, and introduces a stunning, one-of-a-kind new voice in American fiction.

A lightened taste of reality

Corky, dark humor. A addicting storyline and can’t wait to read the sequel. One of my favorite audiobooks ever.

best writer

another perfect book. i listened to big swiss last week, which is also perfection. pretend i’m dead is a portrait of an artist. beagin uses literature to weave story with perception and self awareness. these are the kind of books i like best. beagin is a genius and a true freak and palpably inventively honest.

SA warning

This book is well written and read. Author has talent but no plot. Lots of masturbation. There was only 1 likable character in the last 50 minutes. It's about a self-destructive SA survivor. Every character except the aforementioned was either an abuser or abused. It's depressing and TMI on random characters kinks. It's more like a confession than a story. I'd return it if I could but it was on sale. BTW, Not being able to return a book you didn't use a credit on is next level BS.

The realistic storyline

I absolutely loved this book! It was stunningly real and heartfelt. The subject matter was sometimes hard to listen to, but that’s because it was so real and human.

story makes up for bad narration

I don't normally review, but I think it's worth mentioning that in my opinion the narrator doesn't do the story justice. The tone was completely off and she would often go for long stretches without taking a breath which was distracting. The character voices were decent but the narration almost ruined it. Awesome, complex, dark, comedic story saved the day. Would like to read the book myself now.