Death and the Penguin

Death and the Penguin

Rating

8.5

The Pequod Review:

Death and the Penguin is a short book about a Russian obituary writer — or rather a “preparer,” since he writes about individuals not yet deceased — whose subjects start to die off prematurely. Andrey Kurkov is an excellent writer and he tells the story in a deadpan and absurd way typical of Russian or Finnish novels. I wish the book had taken some of its themes to darker and fuller conclusions though.