Described by the author as "a little nightmare produced by the unaccustomed high-living of a brief visit to Hollywood, " "The Loved One" is an outrageously comic novel of the commericalization of death itself. Mr. Joyboy, the ultimate embalmer, and Aimee Thanatogenos, crematorium cosmetician, find their romance complicated by the appearance of a young English poet named Dennis Barlow. This bizarre triangle is played out against an ironic and macabre backdrop: a full-service funeral home for Hollywood's departed greats called Whispering Glades, and a pet cemetery, Happier Hunting Ground - both final resting places for deceased loved ones.