Acclaimed author of The Adults Alison Espach’s short story In-Depth Market Research Interviews with Dead People is an at-once hilarious and heart-breaking portrait of a dead woman’s marriage and the Volvo that stood in the middle of it all. If you knew you were going to die in two years, would you still have gone with the Volvo? So begins the first question of this interview between the recently deceased Linda and her Volvo’s Market Research representative. Over the course of the rest of the interview, listen in and roll down your window into not only a woman’s marriage but a psyche. This brilliantly woven tale shines a light on our collective idiosyncrasies, neuroses, and desires. In the tradition of Sally Rooney and Maria Semple, Alison Espach threads the needle between humor and devastation and emerges a master of observational satire and millennial voice.

In this at-once hilarious and heartbreaking series, In-Depth Market Research Interviews with Dead People, Alison Espach explores our collective idiosyncrasies, neuroses, and desires through the consumer choices, big and small, that we face every day. Was there any particular reason that, near the end of your lives, you suddenly stopped buying Bounty paper towels? So begins the first question from Bounty's market research representative to Paul and Maggie. In this unique short story, a couple who died suddenly in their 50s recounts their use of Bounty paper towels and their sudden switch to a bargain brand near the end of their lives. What appears to be a run-of-the-mill spat between spouses at the Stop & Shop is revealed to be a defining moment of a marriage years in decline and a chance for two people to make sense of their complicated past.

In this at-once hilarious and heartbreaking series, In-Depth Market Research Interviews with Dead People, Alison Espach explores our collective idiosyncrasies, neuroses, and desires through the consumer choices, big and small, that we face every day. Caroline’s mattress had nothing to do with her untimely death at the age of 28—this, she wants Tempur-Pedic’s market research representative to know. But as she reflects on her first ever mattress purchase and their interview progresses, Caroline dives into the circumstances and decisions that led her and Nicholas—her boyfriend, ten years her senior and prone to sleeping on the floor—to that particular bed in that particular shopping plaza. Ultimately, Caroline has the opportunity to reckon with the struggles she faced near the end of her life, and the story of a complex, bold young woman emerges.