Description
“I’m not crying over this essay about porcelain Christmas villages, you’re crying!”—James Crossley, Leviathan Bookstore
Writer Richard Kelly Kemick humorously tracks his growing obsession with Christmas villages in this short essay that also acts as a holiday card. Playing God originally appeared in the collection Decadence, and as a limited chapbook—both published by Biblioasis.
Playing God is the first entry in Greetings, Chap!, a new series of giftable chapbooks for every occasion: birthdays, holidays, and special occasions. Each comes with a place to write a message, and an envelope. Give the readers in your life more than the standard card, and discover the work of writers you might not otherwise come across.
Praise for Decadence
“Funny, curious, self-deprecating, and occasionally and gloriously ridiculous. Beneath Kemick’s wit and (truly) random obsessions is an exceptionally attentive meditation about the emotional weight of quotidian life and the strange difficulty of becoming an adult. Across a range of explorations about love, grief, loneliness, failure, family, and self-worth, Kemick is refreshingly honest about the limits of introspection, even as he offers an elaborate examination of his own catalogue of shortcomings. The result of this ‘accidental memoir of a sort’ is a deeply genuine, anxiously original, and immensely enjoyable portrait of life in progress.”
—Jury citation, 2026 Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction
“An opening piece about his ongoing relationship, begun in teenagehood, with his miniature Christmas village sets the tone for this whimsical, Sedaris-esque collection of autobiographical essays.”
—Emily Donaldson, Globe and Mail
“This is writing with a pulse and personality. As a narrator of his own life, Kemick is funny, contemplative, and self-effacing. In the book’s penultimate essay, ‘The Briefcase,’ he confesses that he yearns to publish a novel, but it keeps eluding him. ‘The faster you run, the faster it flees,’ he says. I, for one, hope he finishes it.”
—Jadine Ngan, LRC Bookworm
“In Decadence, a collection of autobiographical essays by Richard Kelly Kemick . . . sadness is mixed with cautious optimism. He has a way of noticing odd details and meaningful moments that pass us by when we are with those closest to us.”
—Bill Paul, BC Review
“Wow, I was blown away. I adored this book for all the same reasons David Sedaris is my favourite writer; it’s hilarious, poignant, and still relatable.”
—Anne Logan, I’ve Read This
“Looking at the topics of the essays in this collection, it’s almost as if Kemick was challenging himself. ‘Which subjects can I select that will be of least obvious interest for a reader, and how far can I exceed those expectations?’ By light years, as it happens. I’m not crying over this essay about porcelain Christmas villages, you’re crying!”
—James Crossley, Leviathan Bookstore (St Louis, MO)
“Are they short stories? Essays? Vignettes of a life? This collection is amazing. Page turning in its funny, heartfelt, real, beautiful way. An absolute gem of a read.”
—Erin Chervenock, Village Books (Bellingham, WA)
“What an unexpected delight. This ‘accidental memoir’ is packed with some of the most poignant and hilarious essays I’ve ever read. The author’s ability to elevate the mundane is masterful, and more than once I found myself cackling out loud when reading this in public. I’m so glad I picked this up, and I can’t wait to share it with more readers.”
—Becca Naylor, Bookmarks (Winston-Salem, NC)
“Witty and insightful, this memoir has a different feel to it than most. It’s a celebration of the quirky nature of life. Through a series of vignettes, Richard shares his observations on an array of topics which reminds the reader that the true nature of life is often found in the unexpected.”
—Shannon Alden, Literati Bookstore (Ann Arbor, MI)
“Is it a memoir or is it essays? YES, on both counts . . . But whatever we choose to call it, this is a wondrous set of ‘short stories’ about events, people, and conversations. It is written in the humorous, insightful style of an author who has garnered a loving set of followers—those who, when they pick a new book by Kemick, expect only the best—and know they will get it.”
—Linda Bond, Auntie’s Bookstore (Spokane, WA)
“Funny and poignant . . . Kemick’s wit and curmudgeonly self-regard is offset by his palpable adoration of his partner, Litia, evoking the work of David Sedaris. It’s a weird and rewarding ride.”
—Publishers Weekly
