Book Description
Surprise, you’re dead! This hilarious and moving novel follows a couple forced into unthinkable challenges when, after dying in a plane crash, they find themselves in the lowest tier of heaven, filled with laughter and dread, fear and acceptance, and family bonds even death can’t break
Following a catastrophic plane crash, married couple Mam and Bunko have found themselves in Cloud Six. It’s the newest, and lowest, tier of heaven, run by a slumlord demon named Widdershins who takes the form of an underwear model. With a rabbit skeleton as their guide, the pair do their best to remain hopeful and together in their quest: to navigate the strangest of places, to find help, and to catch even one glimpse of the teen daughter they left behind.
While Mam and Bunko try to accept their fate, Widdershins navigates workplace politics and tries to impress an ex lover. And Amy, who appears in the book as our guide and scribe, grapples with how to tell an honest story with Satan breathing down her neck.
Cloud Six is Amy Fusselman at her most original and heartfelt, offering a blistering yet humorous take on the many trials of contemporary life, including parenting, substance abuse, depression, gun violence, and climate change.
Praise For This Book
Our Culture, A Most Anticipated Book of FallLiterary Hub, A Most Anticipated Book of the Year
"I am confident that you will not read another novel like Amy Fusselman’s Cloud Six this year. Or ever, truth be told . . . Mam and Bunko are reminiscent of Beckett’s Vladimir and Estragon from Waiting for Godot . . . Relentlessly original . . . A seemingly crazy fantasy that is perhaps rather close to the lives we live on Earth." —John Warner, Chicago Tribune
"Bursting with gloriously unhinged imagination and comic energy." —Lizz Schumer, People
"Fusselman’s jokes build on top of themselves, and her writing zips with the energy and spirit of someone having a truly good time . . . With many other books culling their sentences to pare away any emotions, it’s nice to read a novel hell-bent on making its reader feel something." —Sam Franzini, Our Culture
"A funny, moving whirlwind of a tale . . . If you, like me, enjoy stories that use whimsy to confront seemingly unwhimsical subjects . . . then I think Cloud Six may be for you too." —Seth Simons, Humorism
"[An] undeniably funny novel . . . The main reason the book is funny is Amy Fusselman’s dry humor, which comes through as the narrative shifts gears rapidly between each short chapter . . . At times both bleak and delightful, it's safe to say that Cloud Six offers a singularly surprising vision of the afterlife." —Norah Piehl, Bookreporter
"The fun of this novel—and so much of its pathos—lies in its unpredictability . . . Cloud Six shows us again and again that, when we’re faced with an absurd, meaningless world, kindness is how we create meaning. And no matter whether we’ve been treated kindly or callously, we can always choose to be merciful . . . If heaven is an author who understands humanity, in all its flaws and its beauty, and still has mercy, then here, Fusselman has proven herself divine." —Zachary Smolar, Los Angeles Review of Books
"For a novel that explores the intricacies of death, grief, and violence, Cloud Six is both deft of foot and laugh-out-loud funny at every turn. Amy Fusselman has created a one-of-a-kind fantastical world where metaphor and the realities of modern life meet." —Michael Welch, Chicago Review of Books
"Heartfelt moments offer insight into death, the afterlife, grief, violence, life phases, nature, and family. Funny moments abound . . . Fusselman’s absurdist novel about the afterlife is perfect for fans of David Sedaris and TV’s The Good Place. It deserves a spot in every collection." —Library Journal (starred review)
"An original and comic novel about one of the most un-comic of topics: death itself . . . We’ll laugh, we’ll cry, we’ll wish we had a bunny as our guide through life too: Cloud Six is as divine and rambunctious as the heaven depicted in its pages." —Julia Hass, Literary Hub
"Hilariously absurd." —Booklist
"Stunning in its strangeness." —Kirkus Reviews
"[A] laugh-out-loud novel . . . Readers will delight in every page." —Publishers Weekly
"I loved this book. Nothing is what you expect, but somehow it all makes perfect sense. Amy Fusselman is a great comic writer." —John Slattery
“Leave it to Amy Fusselman to hold a cracked mirror to our world—neglected, mismanaged, unsteady, prone to random violence—and call it heaven. As absurd as it is tender, as hilarious as it is dreadful, Cloud Six is yet another sui generis work of brilliance from a writer at the height of her powers.” —Antoine Wilson, author of Mouth to Mouth
"Cloud Six is where metaphors become real, the body falls away, and death is not. Is this a novel? Only if we all are." —Jeffrey J. Kripal, author of How to Think Impossibly: About Souls, UFOs, Time, Belief, and Everything Else
