Life Richard Roper mines loneliness for comedy in charming debut ‘How Not to Die Alone’ May 29, 2019 Emily Gray Tedrowe, Special to USA TODAY Comments Off on Richard Roper mines loneliness for comedy in charming debut ‘How Not to Die Alone’ A lonely man lies about having a family to save face. Now, his boss wants to meet him. It makes for a charming story in Richard Roper's debut novel.