by Elise Goitia '18

Nothing pulls you into a good read like great adventures with Italian lovers, an undertaker who embalms his own father, and a dog, Maya, who keeps up the spirits of visitors at a funeral home.

Robert Hellenga, George Appleton Lawrence Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of English and Distinguished Writer-in-Residence at Knox College, recently published a novella with Bloomsbury Publishing titled The Truth About Death.

The novella is a collection of sardonically humorous short stories based around the premise of mortality.

"One of the things that emerges in the book is that the truth about death isn't something you tell," said Hellenga. "Grief in response to death is something you want to get over, get some therapy, take some valium. There's something huge that's happening in your life that's disrupted everything! If you could take a pill that could take your grief away, would you do it? Of course not."

Hellenga started teaching at Knox in 1968 before he transitioned from professor to full-time writer. During his career as a professor, he was particularly interested in the interpretive and affective nature of literary experience.

Hellenga's past works have won multiple awards. Some of these awards are The Society of Midland Authors 2015 Award Winner (The Confessions of Frances Godwin); Kirkus Reviews: "2010 Best Fiction: the Top 25" and The Washington Post: "The Best Novels of 2010" (Snakewoman of Little Egypt); and The Society of Midland Authors 1995 Award Winner (The Sixteen Pleasures).

The Truth About Death is set in Galesburg, Illinois, and later in Rome, Italy. In Galesburg in the Oldfield family Funeral Home, the undertaker, Simon, his wife, and their dog consider the hardships of mortality as they struggle to come to the conclusion Simon's dog eventually understands: "This is just the way things are, and it's okay."

Hellenga began working on The Truth About Death in 2012 when the characters started to develop. Besides the title piece, the novella features eight "Other Stories" and several cartoons by The New Yorker cartoon editor Bob Mankoff, who is also a character within the book.

The Truth About Death has already been reviewed by NPR Books as "nine searching, mature stories that encompass grand passions and fleeting romantic adventures—often with Italian lovers—along with meditations on impermanence and questions about what makes life meaningful."

Hellenga always liked to write about death because it raises big questions. "In this book, they're discussed explicitly," he added. "There are no fairy tales, no consolation, other than the dog. And that's alright. This funeral home tells the truth about death."