Read about the other books on the list.The Living End
by Stanley Elkin
When Elkin's protagonist, Ellerbee, gets killed in his Minneapolis liquor store at the start of this 1979 comic novel her finds himself in heaven. But it's not long before he's sent down to the other place, where a whole new lifetime awaits. While Ellerbee's quest says something about human fortitude (and folly), the author uses this sly fantasia to open up even bigger questions about our conception of divinity, humanity, and meaning.
The Living End is one of Adam Ross's favorite books under 200 pages.
Also see John Mullan's list of ten of the best visions of hell in literature.
--Marshal Zeringue
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