AND SO FORTH

A cantankerous elderly man dies and returns as various life-forms in Panych’s novel.

Alone in an isolated hospital room, an old man faces death. During his life, he was a third-rate actor, playing bit parts here and there. Given his curmudgeonly personality, no one is there to mourn his passing. In a final fit of pique, he leaves his considerable estate (inherited from his parents) to his geranium, Henrietta, instead of his children, Sophie and Ambrose. After their father’s death, Sophie and Ambrose pursue Martin, the accountant left in charge of Henrietta, and the old man’s one friend, Jack (with whom he was in love), is repeatedly thwarted in his attempts to end his own life. Meanwhile, the deceased old man goes on an unexpected existential journey, returning to life first as a potato, then as a pine tree, then eventually as a series of animals including a frog, chicken, and, finally, a kitten. As he cycles through these brief lives, he absorbs lessons he never learned as a human—to seize control of his life rather than let it happen to him, and to enjoy love when he can find it. The author presents this delightfully odd narrative while managing to avoid maudlin cliches—a testament to his dry wit and penchant for the absurd. (“There are no wistful, longing, closeted gay trees. Unless you count the Birnam Wood tree that I played in Macbeth.”) Humor is the cornerstone of this story; the old man’s scathingly sarcastic commentary on his children’s hapless attempts to get their hands on his money perfectly counterbalance more tender moments, like the few days the old man spends as a pet frog to a lonely, awkward boy. A deeply unpleasant man to everyone around him in life, the protagonist remains engaging not just for his hilarity, but for his moments of pathos, which pop up with increasing frequency as the story continues. He always knew life was a farce, but here he learns that’s a reason to run toward joy, not away from it.

A weird, memorable ride that provokes tears at the most unexpected moments.