Described by the author as "a little nightmare produced by the unaccustomed high-living of a brief visit to Hollywood, " "The Loved One" is an outrageously comic novel of the commericalization of death itself. Mr. Joyboy, the ultimate embalmer, and Aimee Thanatogenos, crematorium cosmetician, find their romance complicated by the appearance of a young English poet named Dennis Barlow. This bizarre triangle is played out against an ironic and macabre backdrop: a full-service funeral home for Hollywood's departed greats called Whispering Glades, and a pet cemetery, Happier Hunting Ground - both final resting places for deceased loved ones.
- ISBN10 0316926183
- ISBN13 9780316926188
- Publish Date 1 November 1977 (first published April 1965)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 28 June 2021
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Little Brown and Company
- Format Hardcover
- Language English