This was a bit like a male ELEANOR OLIPHANT in certain ways. Andrew has SUCH an excellent job. I've been thinking recently about how certain jobs are super common in books and why that is, so this was especially fun to read--but also so sad. I felt like the ending and making a bigger impact was rather wholesome yet didn't come off as preachy. Captivating and well written, I quite enjoyed this. ( )

Loved Andrew and the dry British humor. ( )

Genuinely funny in a very British way. Enjoyed the story more than I anticipated. Enthusiastically recommended! ( )

This was one of those occurrences where I decided to read a book based off the cover and title. It was very amusing to tell my friends for a week that I was reading a book called "How Not to Die Alone." I agree with those who have stated that this book is similar to "Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine." The author introduced a strange sense of humor in the beginning of the book that, in my opinion, failed to continue throughout the book. Also, the different quirks that each character possessed were interesting, but I felt like by the end of the book, I wasn't invested in any of them anymore. As we all know, I am a huge fan of good characters and character development. But this book lacked that by the end. Similarly to Eleanor Oliphant, it started off strong, but it lost me by the end. I do not regret reading this book and I do recommend it to readers interested in this type of book. I just wish a few things could be changed to make it a well deserved read all the way to the final page. ( )

When I walked into the bookstore I was looking for a novel called “How Not to Die Alone” by Richard Roper that I had seen reviewed. Instead I found a book called “Something to Live For” by the same author. When I picked it up I saw that it was the same book, just with a different title.

This confusing change of title from hardback to paperback was probably intended to give it a more positive spin, but I think it was a mistake, for not dying alone is what this wonderful British novel is all about.

Andrew has an odd government job. When bodies of individuals are found, often weeks after their deaths, it is his responsibility to go into the foul-smelling residences and search for signs of relatives or, failing that, enough money to pay for the funeral services.

As it happens, Andrew himself lives alone with his model trains. Yet to the people he works with he pretends to have a wife and two children. His fantasy somehow strengthens him. Roper writes, "They were his happiness and his strength and the thing that kept him going. Didn't that make them just as real as everyone else's family?"

Then he meets Peggy, a new employee with a marriage that is all too real. Her husband keeps promising to stop drinking but never does. She actually envies Andrew's happy home life.

Peggy gives Andrew an incentive to rethink his life and his lies. Perhaps he won't have to die alone like those people whose debris he must sort through for his job. Or, if you wish, perhaps he now has something to live for.

I enjoyed this book for Roper's humor and insights. This is his first novel, but we can look forward to his next one, whatever its titles. ( )