John Kenney Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Poetry Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

John Kenney is a published American author and poet.

He has written novels and poetry books in turn. His first novel to be published was Truth in Advertising, which won him the Thurber Prize for American humor. He also wrote Talk to Me and I See You’ve Called in Dead.

John has contributed to The New Yorker magazine’s Shouts & Murmurs for quite some time. He is married to his wife, Lissa. They have two children together. The family resides in Larchmont, New York.

Talk to Me is a 2019 novel by John Kenney. If you have been looking for an original story that feels like it could be a film, check out the book that Entertainment Weekly named as ‘New & Notable’ and was picked to be the ‘Best Book of the Week’ by the New York Post.

This is a sweet look at a main character who experiences a fall from grace that isn’t all bad. It ends up taking him back to be with his family again and reunites him with the man that he used to be.

Ted Grayson has reported on stories like this when he was working in network television and covering the public downfall of people who were at the top. It seemed like something that happened to other people, not something that could happen to you. In a million years, Ted never predicted that he would go through something similar.

But then he goes on a tirade that is littered with profanity, and worse, it gets caught on camera. In seemingly no time at all, he watches his career and his reputation go down the drain. Every aspect of his career is destroyed. After following a script for years, Ted is finding that there is no prompt here for him and no instructions on what he is supposed to do next.

Ted may have earned the trust and the love of the public over the decades in America, but it was at the hidden cost of his own family. He was devoted to the larger than life persona that he was on the screen and had been traveling for years. At the time that everything is melting down, things are not going well for Ted. He’s estranged from his wife Claire and his daughter Franny.

Franny writes for a popular site. She’s watched the downfall with her own bit of curiosity, but then her boss comes up with the idea that she obtain an interview with Ted. Now she is faced with the choice of whether she will use his setback as a way to push her own career forward, using the one of a kind connection that she has with him to get something for herself. Ted may also be getting the opportunity to see what brought him to this place while also trying to get back before the option disappears on him.

Funny, dark, detailed and even warm at times, this is the tale of a guy who unintentionally torpedoes his life and has to find his way back somehow. Can he build something better than what he had before and find the silver lining in all of this? Read this novel from John Kenney to find out!

I See You’ve Called in Dead is a 2025 novel by John Kenney. Have you ever wanted the chance to make your life again and do something different? Bud Stanley is about to have a second shot at writing the story of his own life.

Bud writes obituaries for people, and the irony of his position is that he’s actually scared to live. His wife decided to leave him for a man who is much more interesting. He then ends up going on a blind date with a woman, who apparently thinks that it’s a good idea to bring her ex along with her. But one night he takes everything a little bit too far.

Bud has multiple glasses of Scotch and decides to write his own obituary. However, he decides that he wants to take things one step further and publishes it. The newspaper wants to get rid of him, but the problem with this is that he’s now listed as dead in the system. The company wants to fire Bud, but how can you fire a dead person?

There’s a strange side effect to all of this in that Bud starts to have the realization that he might want to live after all. Bud waits to find out what is going on with his job, but his life is also waiting for him. His boss decides to give him another chance. But he also wants to get things going for himself, and his best friend and wise ex-art dealer Tim encourages him. Bud starts attending wakes and funerals for people he doesn’t know in the hopes to try and find out how to live.

Funny and unique, this story deals not only with life and death but how to look for meaning and recognizing the precious nature of life. Read it to follow along with every word!