In Exit Laughing, Victoria Zackheim brings 23 writers together to reminisce on how the restorative power of humor has helped them confront and grapple with the pain of death. They provide a flawed, yet human, mirror in which to reflect the grief and emotional turmoil that accompany rituals of dying--making the discussion of death much less taboo in the process.
Zackheim opens the collection with the delightfully wicked "Another Expiration Date" by Malachy McCourt. McCourt muses on the euphemisms used to circumvent the "D" word, witticisms he and his siblings levy while mulling over his mother's burial options at an undertaker's office. A case of mistaken identity in a "Who's on first?" moment provides Karen Quinn with temporary respite from guilt over a dead pet in "Kitty... Mimi." Benita Garvin's novel about parental suicide turns into a moment of life imitating art in "Measuring Grief." Michael Tucker recounts how actor Cleavon Little stages his own deathbed in Blazing Saddles glory in "Cleavon Victorious." Even potty humor makes a morbid appearance when Kathi Kamen Goldmark receives an ancient porcelain commode in recognition of her dear friend, Jessica Mitford, in "Decca's Potty."
Death happens, and the writers in Exit Laughing show that humor can serve as an acceptable and beneficial means to mend broken hearts. Laughter, Zackheim writes in her introduction, "can open the door to emotions shared, and perhaps through this sharing we can not only process the reality of death but mend the complex and often difficult relationships we share with the person who is dying." --Nancy Powell, freelance writer