Stanley Elkin's [The Living End] fetches a mention in Stephen King's [Danse Macabre], a non-fiction treatise on the best, and worst, of horror from the 1950s through the 1980s. It appears in a chapter where Uncle Stevie names his best ten horror books, listed in a discussion about [Rosemary's Baby] and the ambient paranoia pervading the best horror stories. In Elkin's case, the paranoia is theological, or maybe transcendental, in nature - that God might not know exactly what he's doing at every moment in time, might actually get it wrong occasionally.

The book starts starts at a roaring pace, and humorously, with a modern-day Job narrative. Ellerbee, a man with a nagging jezebel of a wife, is killed in one of a string of organized armed robberies committed by a group intent on taking over businesses in the neighborhood. It's not the first time Ellerbee was targeted. But, in the afterlife, he finds himself at the pearly gates, peering over at a theme park scene, only to be scuttled to hell by a flippant, six-gun-toting St. Peter. In hell, he manages briefly to stop the suffering, only to realize the suffering is better than nothing at all. The narrative picks up with another of hell's residents, Ladlehaus, whom is accidentally sent into the very nothingness Ellerbee feared. Ladlehaus finds himself again a resident in his own corpse, decaying in a cemetery that was converted for the grounds of a high school. There, he torments Quiz, the groundskeeper, as a ghostly voice. Quiz, not fond of ghosts, enlists the students to playact a number of scenarios around the tomb in an effort to make Ladlehaus shut-up. But God takes Quiz before his time, in another of a comedy of error. As the mistakes unravel, in heaven and hell, God appears to proclaim that it isn't his fault if he grew bored of what his creation had made of itself - it's just not his fault.

Elkin is a keen writer, sharp-witted and irreverent. As other reviewers have noted, this book is full of blasphemy - so, be warned if that offends. But the creativity with which he handles religious dullardry is worth reading, and heeding. My principal quibble is that Elkin sets up such a fall with no landing ground. If not this, then what - where does one go from here when God has been disrobed. If there's nothing else, Elkins must be firmly in the nihilist camp. But it feels so much like there's another chapter somewhere with a redemption of sorts.

3 1/2 bones!!!! ( )

The best satire is beautifully written (thus, consign almost all 'satire' to the garbage can); it can be enjoyed by people who disagree with the author on large matters (a religious person should enjoy The Living End, because they will agree on the smaller absurdities that Elkin deals with so well, and his treatment of God is nuanced rather than new-atheistical); and ultimately is less about what the book hates and more about loving something (here: humanity) that the object of hatred seems to be inhibiting.

And The Living End is very good satire indeed. I hear that this is 'minor' Elkin, which makes me very excited to read his other works, but also apprehensive. 'Minor' in what way? Because it's short (usually a good thing)? Because it's weird (again, a good thing)? Because it's unclear whether he's using religion as an allegory for literature ('God,' who is supposedly an object of satire, seems very much to be Stanley Elkin by the end of the book) or literature as an allegory for religion? Because it's three interconnected stories rather than one novel? Because Joseph speaks cod Yiddish?

I do not know, and won't know until I read the rest of Elkin, which I certainly plan to do now. Funny but serious authors are ridiculously scarce (there is surely an essay waiting to be written about 'literary fiction,' grief-porn, memoir, post-New-Yorker short fiction, America, and the scarcity of serious writers who are funny). Elkin writes beautiful sentences when he chooses to, and doesn't choose to all the time, because it's easier to be funny when your sentences aren't funny--but he also chooses not be funny all the time. It's this sense that he's choosing what to do that sets him apart as a serious author. Elkin has not found his 'voice.' He gets to decide what voice he writes in. Also, I could write a dissertation about theology, literary criticism, and this book. Anyone who reads it as straightforward and easy satire on Christianity is missing *a lot*. ( )

Thoroughly brilliant satire on the ways that religion (especially Christianity) has dealt with the afterlife. Elkin subverts the iconography of Heaven and Hell with slashing blasphemous parody which is often extremely funny. Ellerbee, having been killed in a liquor store holdup in the Twin Cities, arrives in Heaven (which is a theme park) , but ultimately ends up in Hell. In other streams in the book there is comic and misunderstood interaction between the quick and the dead, bickering within the Holy Family, and a likable fallible God. I doubt anything quite like it had been written since some of the bitter Mark Twain satires. Elkin's prose is angular, adjective-heavy, and imaginative. Surprising comedic twists happen every few pages. Highly recommended if you have a fairly high tolerance for blasphemy. ( )

This is Dante's [b:The Divine Comedy|6656|The Divine Comedy|Dante Alighieri|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320552051s/6656.jpg|809248] on acid. Lots of acid.

It starts out with Mr. Ellerbee, a kind-hearted man who, after getting shot at his own liquor shop, gets sent to hell for thinking that Heaven looks like a theme park. Part II follows Ladlehaus, one of Mr. Ellerbee's assailants, as he gets relocated to a Purgatory of sorts for putting God in the uncomfortable position of making a mistake. Finally, part III features Quiz, a groundskeeper who is randomly killed by God because he wouldn't let him concentrate. It all comes together in a rather bizarre Last Judgement scene.

It's funny how down to earth (tee hee hee) everyone is, though. God is a bit of a loser, Jesus whines, Mary feels her privacy has been violated, and Joseph wonders when he'll be allowed to shag her already.

Dark and absurd and priceless stuff. It's also amazingly well written, in case anyone cares. ( )

This reminded me of a shorter and smarter version of a Christopher Moore novel (no disrespect intended; believe me, Moore is no dummy). Only 3 stars because I thought it was strongest in the beginning and weakened a bit as it progressed. ( )