At the beginning of Keillor’s hilarious new novel, Evelyn sets in motion a circus of zany events when she dies in her sleep — despite the fact that she’s an inveterate insomniac. In a no-nonsense note to her daughter Barbara, Evelyn stipulates that she wishes to be cremated, with her ashes sealed up in a bowling ball and “dropped into Lake Wobegon off Rocky Point.” What’s more, in the same letter Evelyn unapologetically reveals that for years she’s been conducting a passionate love affair with a retired TV weatherman.