"Dear Everybody" traces the nuances of a short-lived life, maintaining a tone of finely judged tension between laughter and tears in an involving and sympathetically written work of fiction. Jonathan Bender had something to tell the world, but the world wouldn't listen. However, he left behind him unsent letters addressed to relatives, friends, neighbours, athletics coaches, teachers, classmates, professors, roommates, psychiatrists, employers, his younger self, former girlfriends, his ex-wife, a TV station and God, among many others. These form the narrative of a remarkable life.