Await Your Reply

By Dan Chaon
(Phoenix Audio, Compact Disc, 9781597772778)

Publication Date: September 2009

Other Editions of This Title: Hardcover, Paperback

Categories: General

Selected by Indie Booksellers for the Summer '10 Reading Group List

“This book sets the standard for contemporary literary fiction. Gorgeous writing infuses the increasingly fraught and suspenseful narrative with an otherworldly, ageless quality; in some ways, this story could only happen now, yet its characters and their struggle for a sense of identity are also timeless. The three intertwining narratives each hold their own delights, and are peopled with characters you can care about deeply, and others you wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole. In the end, though, even the unappealing tug at your heart.”

-- Beth Simpson, Cornerstone Books, Englewood, CO

Selected by Indie Booksellers for the September 2009 Indie Next List

“Await Your Reply is an unsettling, heartbreaking examination of identity and relationships. Dan Chaon skillfully weaves three separate stories together, and, through well-drawn characters and fascinating subplots, he makes the reader both audience and sleuth, eager for the solution to the mystery, yet reluctant to leave the magic of the prose.”

-- Leslie Reiner, Inkwood Books, Tampa, FL

Description

From the award-winning author of Among the Missing, Fitting Ends and You Remind Me of Me, comes an ambitious, gripping, and beautifully written new novel about identity and identity theft—in the tradition of The Talented Mr. Ripley and Case Histories. Three strangers who are trying to find their way in the wake of loss become entwined in an identity theft scheme, which has a resounding impact on them all. At once a gripping pageturner, a gorgeously written psychological study, and a meditation on identity in the modern world, this is a literary novel with the haunting momentum of a thriller.

About the Author

Dan Chaon is the author of Among the Missing, a finalist for the National Book Award, which was also listed as one of the ten best books of the year by the American Library Association, the Chicago Tribune, the Boston Globe, and Entertainment Weekly, as well as being cited as a New York Times Notable Book. Chaon’s fiction has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies and has won both Pushcart and O. Henry awards. Chaon teaches at Oberlin College.

Season's Readings: Top Picks From Indie Booksellers

Thursday, Dec 3, 2009

Correspondent Susan Stamberg gathers recommendations for the season's best books from booksellers Rona Brinlee, Daniel Goldin and Lucia Silva. Their selections include comics about philosophy, novels about building families, and a box set that dives into the process of writing. More at NPR.org

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A Smart, Twisting Novel Of Identity And Confusion

Friday, Oct 9, 2009

Set in various fantastic and creepy landscapes, Dan Chaon's latest book, Await Your Reply, weaves together three separate narratives in what reviewer Maureen Corrigan calls a "spinning nebula of a novel." More at NPR.org

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In Search For Answers, No Guaranteed 'Reply'

Sunday, Sep 6, 2009

A new novel from Dan Chaon, Await Your Reply, explores online deception and real-world identity crises as three characters try to answer the question, "Who are you?" More at NPR.org

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