SOLD OUT - Taryn Delanie Smith + Joelle Garguilo: Welcome to the Afterlife

Moderating the conversation Emmy-Awarding winning entertainment reporter Joelle Garguilo. This event will be hosted in the Strand Book Store's 3rd floor Rare Book Room at 828 Broadway on 12th Street.

Can’t make the event? Purchase a signed copy of Welcome to the Afterlife here.

ACCESSIBILITY:

Strand Book Store is an ADA compliant venue. The event space is accessible via elevator. Please ask a Strand employee upon arrival for directions to accessible seating if preferred.

ASL interpretation is available for this event by request only. Please reach out to our events team at events@strandbooks.com by Oct 5 to request.

For further information on accessibility in this space, or to make a request, please contact events@strandbooks.com.

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From beloved content creator Taryn Delanie Smith, comes a luminous and comforting vision of the afterlife—told through her beloved character, Denise, Heaven’s sharp-witted and big-hearted receptionist.

For millions of followers, Denise has become a guide to the great beyond: welcoming new arrivals at Heaven’s front desk, answering their most pressing questions, and offering reassurance with humor, grace, and a knowing wink. What is there to do in Heaven? Can our loved ones still sense us? What about our pets? Do we get to choose our eternal outfit? Denise has heard it all—and she’s ready with answers that are as thoughtful as they are disarming.

In Welcome to the Afterlife, Smith expands the world that has captivated those who know her from social media, inviting readers on a richly imagined tour of the “Upstairs.” From horseback riding and bingo nights to flying lessons and long-awaited reunions, Heaven is revealed as a place of joy, restoration, and deep connection. But Denise doesn’t shy away from the harder questions: What happens to unfinished business? How are babies cared for? How do we forgive ourselves—and each other—once we’ve crossed over?

Along the way, we meet unforgettable souls, and with each encounter, Denise gently reminds us that love endures, and that those we’ve lost are never truly far away.

Behind the humor and sparkle lies Smith’s own grounding in philosophy and religion, lending depth and nuance to Denise’s voice. The result is a work that is at once playful and profound—a comforting meditation on grief, grace, and the invisible threads that bind us to one another.

Warm, funny, and unexpectedly wise, Welcome to the Afterlife offers solace to anyone who has loved and lost—and a hopeful reminder that what awaits us may be far less frightening, and far more beautiful, than we imagine.