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    The Postmortal: A Novel
    The Postmortal: A Novel
    The Postmortal: A Novel
    Audiobook10 hours

    The Postmortal: A Novel

    Written by Drew Magary

    Narrated by Johnny Heller

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    John Farrell is about to get "The Cure." Old age can never kill him now. The only problem is, everything else still can . . .Imagine a near future where a cure for aging is discovered and-after much political and moral debate-made available to people worldwide. Immortality, however, comes with its own unique problems-including evil green people, government euthanasia programs, a disturbing new religious cult, and other horrors. Witty, eerie, and full of humanity, The Postmortal is an unforgettable thriller that envisions a pre-apocalyptic world so real that it is completely terrifying.

    Editor's Note

    Heroic exploration of immortality…

    “Immortality will kill us all” is the simple thesis behind Drew Magary’s sci-fi novel. While the tone of “The Postmortal” can easily be described as “macabre,” Magary’s wit carries the narrative with immense humanity.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateDec 5, 2011
    ISBN9781452675329
    The Postmortal: A Novel
    Author

    Drew Magary

    Drew Magary is a writer for Deadspin, NBC, Maxim magazine, and Kissing Suzy Kolber. He's also written for GQ, New York Magazine, ESPN, Yahoo!, Playboy, Penthouse, and various other media outlets. His first book, "Men With Balls," was released in 2008. This is his first novel. He lives in Maryland with his wife and children.

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    Reviews for The Postmortal

    3.5/5

    347 ratings49 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 2/5
      This concept and idea of this book seemed wasted. It could have been soooo interesting and thought-provoking but instead the story was just blah. Nothing happened and was almost boring at times. I had such excitement for this book but with each passing chapter that disappeared.
    • 4/5
      Artsy ending decent extrapolatin of events though. I was pleased
    • 4/5
      3.7/5

      Doesn' take it to the extremes, kinda muddles about really.

      Great concept. Okaygood book.
    • 5/5
      At once, astounding and believable in every way. READ IT.
    • 1/5
      Had such potential, but in the end a pretty awful book. Was looking forward to a philosophical exploration of the effect on society when you take away aging, so I was pretty forgiving of the introspective plot and ham-handed exposition. But unfortunately the narrator is a wholly unsympathetic (self-loathing?), alcoholic, violent boy child who falls in love w women for their 'impossible' figures. Add to that the cast of absurdly revealing (and self-aware) characters and the authors apparent conclusion that spirituality only offers fanaticism in the face of crisis.
    • 1/5
      same thing that someone else wrote, interesting premise but the diary format doesn’t work, no likeable or interesting characters or arcs and really no actual plot
    • 4/5
      Interesting concept of a post mortal world. Kind of daunting and also could see how this is how it would play out.
    • 1/5
      I am probably going to be accused of having no sense of humor. Or being a prude. Or not getting it. Or even of not being a guy. But that's okay (and no, I am not a guy). I know that I giggled like a teenaged boy sunk deep in hormone stew over the cover of the book and that I chose, tongue-in-cheek, to read it because of the Super Bowl ball deflating brouhaha. I actually had high hopes that this "Professional Athlete's Handbook" would fulfill its promise of hilarity and entertainment. I had no illusions that it would be anything other than low brow humor but honestly, that is the sort of humor that generally tickles my immature funny bone. Unfortunately, Drew Magary's Men With Balls lost all vestiges of humor within the first few pages. It plain old wasn't funny and that was a terrible disappointment. The book is presented as a "how-to" manual for pro athletes while in actual fact attempting to be a humorous indictment of the excesses of sports and the people who are paid to play those sports. Addressing the reader as the putative professional athlete, the book has chapters covering playing as a job, coaches and management, the media, women, fame and fans, how to handle scandals, money, and more. Magary clearly has a knowledge of how the sports world works but while he riffs sarcastically on all of these topics, he offers nothing special or new. Instead, he perpetuates every negative stereotype out there about professional athletes and manages to be incredibly demeaning to women, gays, and the mentally disabled. While some people will laugh at his commentary, I just can't find much to giggle about in obnoxious and offensive sexism or homophobia. And as if that wasn't enough, the format of the book, with occasional line drawings, asides, and sidebars, was distracting. There are completely fake inset comments from others (athletes, coaches, media figures, etc.) that were annoying and tedious to read through. Over all, the whole thing was not a pleasant reading experience. Satire well done is fantastic and professional athletes are ripe for satire for certain. This book is not only not satire done well, this is not satire at all; it is just juvenile, repetitious, and unfunny.
    • 3/5
      I liked it and I think it will be a really great book club discussion. I would recommend this to anyone interested in dystopian or post-apocalyptic stories as it seems to have elements of both.
    • 4/5
      This book gave me a lot to think about. The premise is that a cure is found for aging. Not for death -- you could still die from cancer, heart disease, accident, etc. Just for aging -- you get the cure and stay the same age until you die.In the world the author has created, when people don't physically age, they also don't seem to mature. The protagonist is stuck forever as the shallow 29-year-old he was when he got the cure, an immature yuppie who lives only for drinking and getting the girl. Except worse, because he knows he'll never grow out of it. Without a retirement to save for, work seems less necessary. Without the prospect of growing old without ever having a family, starting a family seems less necessary. This book raises a fascinating set of questions: How would your priorities change if you knew you would never age? How important are the stages of life to fulfillment or accomplishment? Is there any age at which -- if you stopped aging -- you could be satisfied? Or is the forward motion necessary?Another set of questions: In this novel, did culture just not have enough time to adapt to agelessness before overpopulation overtook the opportunity to create a new way of living? Could agelessness have worked in a bigger world, where resources were not limited? This novel -- as all good novels are -- is firmly rooted in its time, which is the present day, more or less. But what if the cure had been discovered 300 years ago, when the world was much emptier? That would make a good story too.The novel doesn't tell us the answers to any of the questions it raises. It doesn't even say these are what the questions should be. The novel creates the world, the questions raised above are mine alone. Yours might be different.(Some spoilers in the following paragraph.) In his acknowledgements, the author thanks his agent "who challenged me to make the book into a real novel, instead of a masturbatory idea dump. Poor Byrd read this book four times." First of all, good job, Byrd. Second, too bad you didn't have a fifth read left in you, since a few major changes could have made this book great and not just very good: First, I would have gotten rid of the greenies. These guys never made sense to me; nor did the protagonist's actions when he was around them. Second -- although this is a corollary to the first -- I would have changed the supposed turning point where the supposed love of his life is killed when the protagonist goes on an unbelievable, out-of-character attack against the meanies/greenies/whatever they were. If she has to die due to his stupidity, a drunk driving accident would have been more in character and worked as well.Anyhow, highly recommended, even if just as material for a great conversation.
    • 4/5
      A really good read! We caught glimpses of what was happening in the world at large which was extremely interesting. The first half of the book we got more news headlines and commentary on the world but the second half lacked these anecdotes which was disappointing. Still a great book!
    • 5/5
      You want a review?

      It is simple, I looooved this book.

      From the addictive green cover and clean artwork till the last page.

      Suggested read.

      This book does deserve a reblurb however.. The original was found very very lacking. In fact, had it not been for my love of the cover, I may never have given this book a shot. I often find that it is in the favor of the author to foster "judging a book by it's cover".

      --

      Reblurb:

      You think that the current debates over pro-life and pro-choice are lively? Well have you heard about The Cure? This is going to knock the world on it's ear. The pro/pro debate is gonna be irrelevant. It might even take a turn and become a pro-abortion vs "what's the other choice again?" conversation.

      The Cure, what is it exactly? No, not the British goth/pop/rock band. The Cure resolves the ultimate disease, OLD AGE. Sure it is illegal, you need to back alley it, you have to pass cash under the table and use a secret knock.

      Is it worth is? I heard it is expensive, dangerous, and that you can still die? Well sh*t, what do you want, a garauntee? It it doesn't fix cancer, or heart disease.. You can still take a bullet to the head.. But if you are willing to put in a little work, you will never have to give those spoiled children of yours a penny of your hard earned money.. Write them out of your will and out live them all. Get tired of it in 300 years, end it all in your own terms.


      The Cure gives you the power of gene therapy focused to the ultimate task, perpetual cell regeneration. The age you are today, locked in for ever and ever, Amen.

      Mortality is history.

      Immortality is mythology.

      Postmortal is now.

      --

      Publisher Summary:

      John Farrell is about to get "The Cure."

      Old age can never kill him now.

      The only problem is, everything else still can . . .

      Imagine a near future where a cure for aging is discovered and-after much political and moral debate-made available to people worldwide. Immortality, however, comes with its own unique problems-including evil green people, government euthanasia programs, a disturbing new religious cult, and other horrors.
    • 5/5
      What if a group of scientists found a cure for aging? Would you want it? This cure doesn't encompass any diseases like cancer, AIDS, or even the common flu. So, while anyone receiving the “cure” would not age, they would still be susceptible to illness or injury. As the book explains, you would only be assured that when you do die, it would not be peacefully in your bed of old age, you pretty much are guaranteed that it will be nothing so easy. There are plenty of other ways to die, and plenty of other people who want to make sure you do. Drew Magary explores these issues and many of the possible results of this so-called "cure" such as overwhelming population growth, the horrific ways people abuse the “cure”, and all of the extreme religious and socio economic repercussions and then presents it in an extremely entertaining and entirely readable narrative.

      To say I was blown away by The Postmortal would be an understatement. The cartoon-like cover image and back cover blurb did not prepare me for how crazy-good this book actually was. I wasn't expecting it. This was so cleverly written. I was drawn in by the rich dark humor and the blunt, candid way the story is told. I would describe this as the “much cooler big brother” to all of the other dystopian novels I’ve read. I can literally picture some of these events happening within my own lifetime. And that is frightening.

      The Postmortal chronicles one man, John Farrell’s journey into postmortal life, after receiving the "cure". The story is told via John's personal journal and from some of the news articles and blurbs from various news feeds he included in that journal. John is almost an anti-hero, flawed in so many ways but his story is still so compelling. The news articles keep the reader updated on what is going on throughout the world and then John's journal shows how these things are affecting people on a more personal level, how they are living through and with these changes. I thought it was a very original and effective way to present a story.

      This world was a terrifyingly realistic place that is all too familiar. The most frightening thing about The Postmortal is that it was so believable. From the strange religious cult to the shady government dealings, and even the mysteriously malevolent "greenies" all of it followed a very conceivable logical sequence. I was both extremely entertained and terrified at the possibility that any of this could actually happen.

      The Postmortal was easily my favorite read of 2011. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a thrilling dystopian adventure as well as anyone who simply wants to be thoroughly entertained.
    • 4/5
      What sold me in this book, other than the interesting plot, were the reviews talking about how bleak and sad the story was. Sold! This book felt a little like John Scalzi's The Dispatcher which was great.

      As far as bleak and sad, there are elements of it. The decent of man due to the limiting of death is interesting to watch. There are some elements and implications that are very logical to see and there were some surprises of the events covered. The way the story is written you're able to get a good picture of what's happening throughout the world without the main character having to exposition everything. Some of that happens but some points are explained in new feeds which feel pretty fluid within the stories. I wish there would have been more.

      My biggest complaint is actually with the beginning. The start of the book almost acts as a big spoiler to everything else. I wish the story would have concluded with it. The actual ending isn't as hard hitting as it could be and the beginning would have a greater impact if on the final outcome.

      The main character is pretty every man which is good. The changes he goes through as a normal guy makes a good juxtaposition to what path he takes. The events are pretty believable although I would have liked to see a few more details on how religion would develop or change. It does play a part in the story but the ethical changes to the world could have been even more interesting and was probably a detriment to the story. The changes to ethics just kind of happen.

      Overall, the bleakness and sadness are the highlights of the story and the main character is the right fit for the need of the story. Final grade - B
    • 4/5
      Title: The Post MortalAuthor: Drew MagaryDate Read: 9/2021Title: An account of the worst invention in history.Story: John Farrell. A witness to the price of immortality on a large scale. John’s journey begins when he obtains the “Cure for Aging” from a doctor operating from the black market. His path in life from that moment is caught up in the wake of world that suddenly no longer has to fear death from growing old. John chronicles his life over a 90 year period while never physically aging past 29. He sees the legalization of the drug, the impact that it has on society, and eventually the outcome of a world that no longer has to worry about the time they have in life to accomplish things.Through it all John chronicles his encounters with other post mortals, those who think that the post mortal should not exist, and what the purpose is of a life that no longer has to end.Thoughts:This type of story reminds of books like World War Z and Robopocalypse. It falls somewhere in the middle as it is told only from one view point with various news reports and such filling the reader in on the state of the world that the main character inhabits. I did like the story though and I think the author did a pretty good job of describing how humanity would slowly go nuts when people no longer had an expiration date. Not to mention the fact that people are able to keep having children which leads to obvious problems. This is a pretty good book if you like the previous books mentioned or looking for a good “what if” story.-m.a.c
    • 5/5
      The Postmortal is pitched as a darkly comic satire about a world where a cure for aging is invented and becomes widely available. However, if it is a satire, it is of a character most similar to Jonathan Swift's infamous essay advocating the cannibalization of Irish babies as a solution to poverty. If you happen to smile while reading The Postmortal, I imagine it will be a mirthless rictus intermingled with horror rather than anything signifying amusement. For my part, I don't think I laughed a single time reading the book in a mad rush over the past two days, but I don't count that as a mark against it. In fact, I found it both gripping and chilling in equal parts.

      When the cure for aging, commonly known as "The Cure", is first invented, doctors are quick to point out that it isn't actually a cure for death, either by cancer or a more violent end, but that and the fact that it is initially banned by the government don't stop the main character, John Farrell, from spending seven thousand dollars at a black market clinic to get cured at the age of twenty nine. The narrative follows John over the next 60 years of his life, as he learns what it truly means to have eternal youth from both a personal and a global perspective.

      An early scene where John takes his roommate back to the same clinic to get the cure sets the tone for the rest of the story, as unexpected tragedy decisively intrudes. John's life is forever changed in an instant, both by the looming spectres of death and destruction that seem to lurk just around the next corner for the rest of his life, and by the fleeting glimpse outside the clinic of a beautiful blonde woman he feels certain he will meet again some day. Magary does an excellent job of setting up a palpable sense of dread very early on in the book; we quickly learn to expect that nothing good will ever come to John without some greater evil following quickly behind.

      The book alternates between John's journals/life recordings and excerpts of articles, interviews, and news headlines. We soon get a fuller picture of the way that the cure for aging affects the world around John in new and terrifying ways. One particularly chilling article recounts the story of a woman who gives the cure to her child so that the girl will stay a lovable, innocent baby forever. Magary also spends a good amount of time establishing the particularly catastrophic results of the cure in already over-populated China, and you get the sense that an entire novel could be set in that particular corner of the apocalypse.

      The book jumps forward in time over the decades of John's artificially extended life, and we watch as his personal tragedies and disappointments all add together to transform him from a hopeful young lawyer to a cynical, hardened "End Specialist", a sort of bounty hunter who ekes out both euthanasia and questionable justice as forms of legalized population control. My only real criticism of the book is that John still felt like a bit of a cypher by the end of the story; Magary does a great job of portraying the personal hardships that he experiences over his long life, and we get little snapshots of emotion and grief, but John feels more like a window into the world rather than a fully lived-in protagonist.

      The Postmortal is a brisk read even at just under 400 pages in print, and if I hadn't started reading it so late at night, I might have finished the entire thing in one sitting. The scenes of action peppered throughout the book are written in a clear, compelling style, and Magary has a knack for grabbing the reader just in time to show them how bad things can get. The brightly-colored cover and the author's history as a comedy writer are a bit misleading considering the searing bleakness of his debut, but if you can stomach it, The Postmortal is a incredibly thrilling piece of dystopian gallows humor, and I highly recommend it.
    • 3/5
      The author notes that a particular editor had a heavy hand on the second half of the book, which is also the half I felt was more successful. I'm not sure the 'diary entry' mechanism has ever really worked for a work of fiction. Skim until you hit the part where the protagonist gets a new job.
    • 4/5
      So bizarre. So creative. Worth the read.
    • 5/5
      What would you do if a cure for aging was created? The cure only stops aging and you can still die from anything else. Would you still take it? What are the moral and political implications of such a cure? This science fiction novel explores these types of questions and so much more. I seriously love Drew Magary's novels!
    • 4/5
      An interesting book about the cure for aging and all the crap which will happen because of it.
    • 4/5
      The concept of not aging and living a very long time appeals to many people but it is a polarizing topic also - do you truly want to be immortal? Are you truly immortal if everyone else is too or is that the new norm?. Postmortal covers both sides of the discussion and creates a very intriguing world where people don't grow old. The first half of the book was very interesting and made me think that it would be a book club book. The second half dissauded me from that - it turned into your typical post apocalyptical type story - too many people, not enough resources, poverty, etc. I finished the book to see how it would turn out but was disappointed in the second half.The book brings an extremely interesting to light and gives you a lot to think about. Give the book a try and see which side you would stand on.
    • 1/5
      Very disappointed in this one. The author relies too heavily on the premise to carry the novel. No interesting characters or character development. Not even a plot really.
    • 1/5
      I usually avoid sci-fi because I find it boring and ridiculous and totally uninspiring. I read this novel because it is the selection for a book club I am in. It involves an injection which people can get--discovered in 2019--which prevents people of dying of old age. They can still die in accidents, by being murdered, and of disease. At once one sees how silly the concept is because very few people die of "old age." I suspect there are few death certificates which list as cause of death "old age." But in this book the fact that people don't die of old age results in a terrific increase in the population and a massive depletion of the earth's resources. The concept is very poorly worked out and while the story purports to relate events in 2059 and 2079 most things are related in terms of what exited in 2011--the year the book was written. When I got to about page 80 I was dismayed to see how many pages I still had to read to finish the book (since I nearly always finish a book I start). And I did finish this book. The last few pages are filled with action and catastrophes which I welcomed because it meant I was nearing the end of a most stupid and totally uninspiring book. I have little doubt that this will be the most worthless uninteresting book I will read this year. At least I hope so.
    • 5/5
      The cure for aging has been discovered. You can still die...cancer, shooting, bleeding out, struck by a car, piano dropped on your head, and whatnot. But you will never age, if you take the cure. Loved this book. Told from the point of view of one man's blogs found in the wreckage of humanity.
    • 2/5
      "The Postmortal" should have been a short story. I liked the idea of how a near-future world would handle the discovery of a cure for aging. The story told around that idea in this book didn't hold my interest. When the world of "The Postmortal" takes a dystopian turn the story struggles to remain plausible.

      I disliked the protagonist, and didn't connect with any of the other characters either. The literary device of telling the story through blog-posts did not work for me. It was cheesy. The idea that someone like the protagonist would deliberately record the events which the protagonist records is frankly ridiculous.
    • 4/5
      I read this book on the recommendation of a coworker. It's one the the best I've read. It's an excellent store and gives a truly disturbing and likely realistic look at what would happen to humanity and the planet as a whole should the cure for aging ever be found. Everyone should real this book.
    • 5/5
      You want a review?

      It is simple, I looooved this book.

      From the addictive green cover and clean artwork till the last page.

      Suggested read.

      This book does deserve a reblurb however.. The original was found very very lacking. In fact, had it not been for my love of the cover, I may never have given this book a shot. I often find that it is in the favor of the author to foster "judging a book by it's cover".

      --

      Reblurb:

      You think that the current debates over pro-life and pro-choice are lively? Well have you heard about The Cure? This is going to knock the world on it's ear. The pro/pro debate is gonna be irrelevant. It might even take a turn and become a pro-abortion vs "what's the other choice again?" conversation.

      The Cure, what is it exactly? No, not the British goth/pop/rock band. The Cure resolves the ultimate disease, OLD AGE. Sure it is illegal, you need to back alley it, you have to pass cash under the table and use a secret knock.

      Is it worth is? I heard it is expensive, dangerous, and that you can still die? Well sh*t, what do you want, a garauntee? It it doesn't fix cancer, or heart disease.. You can still take a bullet to the head.. But if you are willing to put in a little work, you will never have to give those spoiled children of yours a penny of your hard earned money.. Write them out of your will and out live them all. Get tired of it in 300 years, end it all in your own terms.


      The Cure gives you the power of gene therapy focused to the ultimate task, perpetual cell regeneration. The age you are today, locked in for ever and ever, Amen.

      Mortality is history.

      Immortality is mythology.

      Postmortal is now.

      --

      Publisher Summary:

      John Farrell is about to get "The Cure."

      Old age can never kill him now.

      The only problem is, everything else still can . . .

      Imagine a near future where a cure for aging is discovered and-after much political and moral debate-made available to people worldwide. Immortality, however, comes with its own unique problems-including evil green people, government euthanasia programs, a disturbing new religious cult, and other horrors.
    • 5/5
      I enjoyed The Postmortal by Drew Magary and the fresh approach he took to telling this story. The premise is that the story has been collected from a life recording device and pieced together to provide a narrative of a particular trying time in the not too distant past: when the cure for aging was discovered. Spanning three sections of the chroniclers life, about 60 years apart provides a really cool way of seeing the drastic breakdown of society in a future of scarcity of resources with a booming - and unaging - population. The character development was top notch and I really liked the sort of "Mad Maxx" like walled city and car influence, while being all electric vehicles, it was a cool take. The main premise is that the gene responsible for aging had been located and can be turned off, even though you can still die from cancer, heart disease, etc, your body tissues don't deteriorate anymore. Magary uses this jumping off point to explore a wide variety of themes such as: religious fundamentalism, ageless teenage concubines, government control, terrorism and extremists, as well as post-apocalyptic survival and the relationships that develop in these extreme circumstances. I thought that the writing was really well done, and the thought of these being sort of blog posts, or a person's life feed was really cool to do as a full novel. I would highly recommend The Postmortal.
    • 2/5
      I too read this book primarily because of my acquaintance with Magary's work on the internet, which is nothing short of hilarious. However, I didn't much like it. When I read Halpern's blurb on the back page, ripping on I Robot, I immediately worried. And rightfully so, as it's pretty clear that most of the ideas that Magary explores here were so much more fleshed out and interestingly developed in "Time Enough For Love" by Robert Heinlein. And isn't the last section just a ripoff of "Blade Runner"? In my estimation, Magary is best when he's riffing on something, and essays are probably his best format. In that, he's similar to Dave Barry, who is probably the funniest writer in America, but who laid an egg with "Big Trouble". There's nothing wrong with being like Dave Barry, though.
    • 3/5
      A funny thing happened when I finished this book. Immediately after reading the final page I flipped back to the opening pages to read about John as he was in the start of the story, his reasons, his motivations, to see how much he changed.

      It was an interesting read.

      The world was creepy, horrific and I suppose plausible. The future was subtle but dark and hopeless and it reminded me of the film version of Children of Men where everything was just high-tech enough to communicate "future" without flying cars and cliches like that.

      My one big complaint about the story, and it bugged me to the point of rolling my eyes and switching books for a short time, was that upon receiving the cure, it seemed every woman wanted to cling to her family and her husband and their comfortable domestic life while every man wanted to relive the bachelor lifestyle. I know that there's a biological theory that males want to procreate more to spread their genes around but it wasn't put forth like that. It was put forth as "Guys get bored with the same old chick."

      Really?

      There wasn't one female supporting character in the entire narrative that didn't just wanna live the life of their carefree 20's again? None? They all wanted to be Suzy Homebodies forever?

      That seriously irritated me and it put a cloud over the middle of the story for me.

      And yet, I liked the book. I liked John, even if he was rather aimless at times, which was the point of course, I liked Allison, I liked Ernie and Matt and I loved the imagery in the final few chapters.

      But then, good dystopias are so hard to find.