James Douglas O'Flaherty (Jimmy) walks outside his house one evening on his way to dinner and is killed when a tree branch falls on his head. The branch would've missed him if only he hadn't returned to his house moments before to turn off a light, which he'd only done because a podcast he had listened to six months earlier about the dire consequences of global warming had inspired him to make a difference. This difference would cost him his life, but it was not the only decision that contributed to his death. Everything he did that day determined the exact sequence of events that led to his death. In fact, everything he did throughout his entire life, including his unlikely birth and conception, contributed to his death.

Even more important to Jimmy's life (and thus also his untimely death) was the Big Bang and the creation of life on earth with the true nature of the universe finally exposed for what it truly is

The Unfortunate Death of James Douglas O'Flaherty is an absurdly funny and occasionally poignant satire about life, the universe and random chance.