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82nd out of 1,146 books
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6,049 voters
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Await Your Reply
by
Dan Chaon (Goodreads Author)
The lives of three strangers interconnect in unforeseen ways–and with unexpected consequences–in acclaimed author Dan Chaon’s gripping, brilliantly written new novel.
Longing to get on with his life, Miles Cheshire nevertheless can’t stop searching for his troubled twin brother, Hayden, who has been missing for ten years. Hayden has covered his tracks skillfully, moving ste...more
Longing to get on with his life, Miles Cheshire nevertheless can’t stop searching for his troubled twin brother, Hayden, who has been missing for ten years. Hayden has covered his tracks skillfully, moving ste...more
Hardcover, 336 pages
Published
August 25th 2009
by Ballantine Books
(first published August 15th 2009)
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Await Your Reply examines the question of identity in old and new ways. Throughout the book there's a philosophical undercurrent dealing with that ancient question of what constitutes a "self." The plot ties into that question using the more recent issue of identity theft, which allows people to erase their life histories and "be" an entirely different person.
The exploration of these themes was, for me, the most appealing thing about the book. The switches and...more
The exploration of these themes was, for me, the most appealing thing about the book. The switches and...more
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I must confess to not having read Dan Chaon's previous books. That's something I will correct IMMEDIATELY. The new one is great stuff.
Await Your Reply is comprised of three different storylines that involve regular-seeming folks in somewhat dire straits. Each of the characters is on the road and struggling with where they stand in their most important relationships: a man searching for his unstable brother; a young woman wondering how much she should trust her history-teacher-cum-bo...more
Await Your Reply is comprised of three different storylines that involve regular-seeming folks in somewhat dire straits. Each of the characters is on the road and struggling with where they stand in their most important relationships: a man searching for his unstable brother; a young woman wondering how much she should trust her history-teacher-cum-bo...more
Harmonybites
rated it
Recommends it for:
Lovers of Literate Mysteries
Recommended to Harmonybites by:
A friend
The story starts with three seemingly unconnected narratives. First, that of Ryan, who in the opening scene is being rushed to the hospital with his detached hand. Then also Lucy, recent high school grad running away with her history teacher. Finally, there's Miles, searching for his missing twin brother. What propels you through the book is wanting to find out how these three connect up. I had some guesses, some right, but didn't get quite how all they all fitted till the end--the author says i...more
Dan Chaon's novel was reviewed and touted as being a "book for our age", giving us the quintessential text on "identity in the 21st century" and so on and so forth. The theme of the book intrigued me- identity theft in an age of exponentially boosting computer bureaucracy and the separation from the tangible personhood. Or at least that is what I thought the theme would be.
It turned out to be nothing so thrilling or philosophical as that, opting instead to take t...more
It turned out to be nothing so thrilling or philosophical as that, opting instead to take t...more
Best book I have read in over a year. I can not stop talking about it. I have read Dan Chaon's previous books but think this is his best. If you have read You Remind Me of Me...this is a perfect and even better follow up.
By the way, when I finished the book my jaw dropped and I immediately went back and re read the last 100 pages to figure out how he got me.
By the way, when I finished the book my jaw dropped and I immediately went back and re read the last 100 pages to figure out how he got me.
This book is slight. Very slight. The author starts out with an interesting idea (the plot revolves around a ring of identity theft criminals as well as a pair of twin brothers, one of whom is possibly insane and has mysteriously dissapeared).
But Chaon never moves beyond the idea. He seems to think that was all he needed, so he doesn't put any effort into writing an actual book with a real story and real people. The handful of characters are never fully developed and they interact w...more
But Chaon never moves beyond the idea. He seems to think that was all he needed, so he doesn't put any effort into writing an actual book with a real story and real people. The handful of characters are never fully developed and they interact w...more
Dustin Crazy little brown owl
rated it
Recommends it for:
people who are attracted to the idea of Alternate Realities :-)
"I myself, from the very beginning,
Seemed to myself like someone's dream or delirium
Or a reflection in someone else's mirror,
Without flesh, without meaning, without a name.
Already I knew the list of crimes
That I was destined to commit."
- ANNA AKHMATOVA,
"Northern Elegies" (as quoted in Await Your Reply)
---------------------------------------------------
"First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you ha...more
Seemed to myself like someone's dream or delirium
Or a reflection in someone else's mirror,
Without flesh, without meaning, without a name.
Already I knew the list of crimes
That I was destined to commit."
- ANNA AKHMATOVA,
"Northern Elegies" (as quoted in Await Your Reply)
---------------------------------------------------
"First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you ha...more
Sara
added it
Don t be fooled by the title of Dan Chaon s new novel, which has appeared on many best of the year lists for 2009. It sounds like it should be a quiet domestic novel, but in fact it s a riveting page turner, filled with suspense and dark paranoia. It open with three separate storylines In the first, a young man is in the back of a car. His severed hand is in a cooler next to him. In another storyline, a young woman and her lover, who happens to be her high school English teacher, are fleei...more
Really enjoyed this book; look forward to discussing it with my book club.
The book tells 3 different stories, with all 3 centering on the topic of identity. Miles Cheshire has lived out his adult life seeking a long-lost twin brother, making the search a bigger part of his identity than any other. Orphaned high school senior Lucy Lattimore runs away with her history teacher to escape small town life, and wonders if it's really possible to recreate a new life. And college student Ry...more
The book tells 3 different stories, with all 3 centering on the topic of identity. Miles Cheshire has lived out his adult life seeking a long-lost twin brother, making the search a bigger part of his identity than any other. Orphaned high school senior Lucy Lattimore runs away with her history teacher to escape small town life, and wonders if it's really possible to recreate a new life. And college student Ry...more
This was the first novel I read by Dan Chaon and I enjoyed it quite a bit. The essence of this is identity, family, and at the heart of it a search. There are some twists in this and some that are unpredictable even to the end (at least I felt so) Best, is the richness of the story and the sense of all our various lives catching up to use...well, speak for yourself I guess..so far I've only lived one. There's a great deal of theft here, too, and it made me a little paranoid thinking it was so ...more
This novel switches between three stories that converge for a surprise ending.
Story #1: Miles Cheshire is searching for his twin brother, Hayden. It's a fruitless search, motivated by a combination of love and pity. Hayden is crazy - a schizophreniac. As a child, he was tormented by horrible nightmares that eventually crept into his waking existence. By the time he was a teenager, Hayden's sense of reality was terribly corrupted - he couldn't tell the difference between events as they...more
Story #1: Miles Cheshire is searching for his twin brother, Hayden. It's a fruitless search, motivated by a combination of love and pity. Hayden is crazy - a schizophreniac. As a child, he was tormented by horrible nightmares that eventually crept into his waking existence. By the time he was a teenager, Hayden's sense of reality was terribly corrupted - he couldn't tell the difference between events as they...more
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Betty-Anne
added it
What, exactly, defines a person’s identity and how is it distinct from one’s personality? Dan Chaon’s Await Your Reply weaves the stories of three characters whose lives intertwine in ways they cannot imagine in order to look at this question.
The story is written in chapters that alternate each of the main characters voices. In spite of the complex nature of the story, with multiple threads and timelines flowing one into the other, the story never gets too complicated to enjoy or loses...more
The story is written in chapters that alternate each of the main characters voices. In spite of the complex nature of the story, with multiple threads and timelines flowing one into the other, the story never gets too complicated to enjoy or loses...more
This is one of those books that, once you pick up, you will not be putting it down anytime soon. I breezed through it in two days...and I worked both of those days.
The book follows three unconnected stories of different people across the nation. One story involves Ryan and his father, Jay, as they work as conmen. Another follows Lisa, a recent high school graduate, and George, her history teacher who she has fallen in love with and is running away with. The last follows Miles as he c...more
The book follows three unconnected stories of different people across the nation. One story involves Ryan and his father, Jay, as they work as conmen. Another follows Lisa, a recent high school graduate, and George, her history teacher who she has fallen in love with and is running away with. The last follows Miles as he c...more
I thought this book was pretty engaging, and I am waffling between three and four stars. I usually don't see the twist coming but I got it pretty much immediately with this one. The alternating storylines sort of made each one shallower than I wanted it to be, I think. Like I just wanted him to kick it up a notch, because the premise of each of the three stories is so rich. Because actually, not much really happens in each of the three plotlines; each of the characters is on the edge on somethin...more
Even though he is longing to get on with his life, Miles can’t stop searching for his troubled twin brother, Hayden, who has been missing for ten years. Hayden has covered his tracks skillfully, moving from place to place, managing along the way to hold down various jobs and seem, to the people he meets, entirely normal. But some version of the truth is always concealed.
A few days after graduating from high school, Lucy sneaks away from her small town in Ohio, with her former history t...more
A few days after graduating from high school, Lucy sneaks away from her small town in Ohio, with her former history t...more
I liked this book because it was extremely satisfying in about 700 different ways. First, I was into it right from the start. I mean, from the very start. Normally, when I have a whole ton of books out of the library at a time, I read the first bit of a lot of them before settling on the book I’m in the mood for at the time. I didn’t put this one down once I picked it up, and I often found myself doing that thing where I had to go back and read a page over, because I was pushing through the book...more
I've been sitting on this one for a while and finally took a stab at it and will immediately admit that this book is great. As some reviewers note, the story is fragmented, which for some reason didn't bother me. Typically, this sort of historical Plinko does tend to get old fast, but Chaon pulls it off.
The author also has an uncanny ability to write a very cerebral story, where most of the "action" tends to be the thoughts of each of the characters. The typical action/de...more
The author also has an uncanny ability to write a very cerebral story, where most of the "action" tends to be the thoughts of each of the characters. The typical action/de...more
The Short of It:
Identity and self are of importance here, yet it’s an identity other than their own that drives these characters. The inability to accept who they are is the main focus of this tragic tale.
The Rest of It:
In a collection of seemingly, unrelated stories, a group of characters come together in unexpected ways. Miles goes on a quest to find his missing brother, Hayden. Hayden is afflicted with mental illness and although Miles is well aware that an...more
Identity and self are of importance here, yet it’s an identity other than their own that drives these characters. The inability to accept who they are is the main focus of this tragic tale.
The Rest of It:
In a collection of seemingly, unrelated stories, a group of characters come together in unexpected ways. Miles goes on a quest to find his missing brother, Hayden. Hayden is afflicted with mental illness and although Miles is well aware that an...more
This is a unique, unusual and gripping story! It explores schizophrenia, identity theft, closure, and the need to be approved of, loved and accepted. There are three different storylines that seem to have nothing to do with each other. They lead up to some strange events that the mystery is slowly unraveled by the end of the book.
Miles Chesire has an identical twin whose brother, Hayden, who has been missing for a long time. He receives a strange letter from Hayden. Miles drives fro...more
Miles Chesire has an identical twin whose brother, Hayden, who has been missing for a long time. He receives a strange letter from Hayden. Miles drives fro...more
E-e-r-i-e. It is irresponsible to tell you much more than that, because this book hinges on the reader's simultaneous suspicion and disarmament at every twist and turn. Much of the book is necessarily circumspect, which made me feel distant and dislocated during the first 2/3 of the story. And although a lot of it takes place in wide open, (and often) desolate places, I felt a contraction of space and time, and a reader's claustrophobia. The narrative edges collapsed into a flat darkness, and I ...more
Are writers as a breed more inclined than most to think about identity? It seems like they would be. They’re always trying to get inside characters’ heads. In the case of this particular author add the fact that he grew up as an orphan and maybe it makes sense he’s so good at depicting the mutability of self. In the three different stories that Chaon tells, the key figures show the ability and proclivity to change. It quickly becomes apparent (and thus does not qualify as a spoiler to menti...more
This novel has been described as the lives of three different people and how they interconnect.
The first person we meet is Ryan, who can answer to several different last names. He was born to an unwed mother and adopted. He considers his whole life a lie and leaves Northwestern University after using his tuition money for other purposes. He reunites with his biological father who is running a money scam.
Lucy Lattimore lost her parents in an automoblile accident while s...more
The first person we meet is Ryan, who can answer to several different last names. He was born to an unwed mother and adopted. He considers his whole life a lie and leaves Northwestern University after using his tuition money for other purposes. He reunites with his biological father who is running a money scam.
Lucy Lattimore lost her parents in an automoblile accident while s...more
Listen Goodreads, get with the program and allow half-star ratings--I'd really like to give AWAIT YOUR REPLY 3.5 but just can't bring myself to give it a full 4.
It's interesting to read this because I was JUST having a conversation with a coworker (and later a follow-up conversation with my boyfriend) about how contemporary writers find it difficult to incorporate computer use/the internet use into their novels. Is this because, what with technological updates happening roughly every ...more
It's interesting to read this because I was JUST having a conversation with a coworker (and later a follow-up conversation with my boyfriend) about how contemporary writers find it difficult to incorporate computer use/the internet use into their novels. Is this because, what with technological updates happening roughly every ...more
It's hard to know how to describe this book. A literary thriller? An adventurous examination of the shifting, amorphous world of identity in today's society? Whatever the case, it would seem Chaon sculpted a very intricate, carefully formed tale. Well, wouldn't it? But here's what the author had to say in response to the publisher's question, "How did you come up with the concept of Await Your Reply?
Answer: "I actually didn't start out with a concept. All of my work starts out in...more
Answer: "I actually didn't start out with a concept. All of my work starts out in...more
I am confused … in a good way.
Lucy has left her small Ohio town in the dead of night, along with her lover and former history teacher, on her way to adventure and riches; but can she really trust him? Miles has been searching for his missing, apparently schizophrenic, twin brother for years; a recent letter has given him a clue that dates back to their childhood and the fantasy games they played, and at last he is certain where to find him. Ryan has his own identity crisis when he ...more
Lucy has left her small Ohio town in the dead of night, along with her lover and former history teacher, on her way to adventure and riches; but can she really trust him? Miles has been searching for his missing, apparently schizophrenic, twin brother for years; a recent letter has given him a clue that dates back to their childhood and the fantasy games they played, and at last he is certain where to find him. Ryan has his own identity crisis when he ...more
You can quote me on this: there will be a major motion picture made from the story in this book in the not too distant future. It has instant crowd appeal. The world loves a story of the good twin and the bad twin, and this one is classic. Miles and Hayden grow up in suburban Cleveland, Ohio. Miles is a sweet boy and Hayden is nutty as a fruitcake and mean as a snake. When they grow up, Hayden escapes the from the asylum and leaves Ohio for greener pastures. This is the best thing that co...more
"Await Your Reply" is a book I'll think about for a while. Chaon deals with the themes of identity and identity theft in the age of the internet, and he grabbed my attention on page one and never let up. The author does not follow a linear narrative structure. Rather, he uses pairs of characters, seemingly unrelated to the other pairs, although the author eventually makes connections between them in this fine woven novel. It's written like a thriller with clues at the end of each c...more
Lately, my job has provided me with a lot of opportunities for listening to audio books, while doing tasks that don't require much thought. I figured this would be a great chance for me to listen to some of those non-genre books that I have been wanting to read but haven't managed to find time for. One such book is Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon, a book that I have heard wonderful things about and have meaning to read for over a year now.
From the very start of the book, wh...more
From the very start of the book, wh...more
This novel is what the blurbs say it is: a tightly written, compelling literary thriller. And not just "literary" because it has a melanchony ending or has a few tightly written passages. Chaon delves into character and includes a number of interesting thematic elements.
Three seemingly unrelated story lines are weaved together in alternating chapters. Unlike a traditional thriller, the novel builds and meanders a bit through the first 100 pages or so as the characters a...more
Three seemingly unrelated story lines are weaved together in alternating chapters. Unlike a traditional thriller, the novel builds and meanders a bit through the first 100 pages or so as the characters a...more
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| THE LISTS: 1st novel | 10 | 6 | Jan 22, 2012 10:45pm |
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Dan Chaon is the author of Among the Missing, which was a finalist for the National Book Award and You Remind Me of Me, which was named one of the best books of the year by The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, The Christian Science Monitor, and Entertainment Weekly, among other publications. Chaon’s fiction has appeared in many journals and anthologies, including Best Ame...more
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“At a certain point, you must be able to slip loose. At a certain point, you found that you had been set free.
You could be anyone, he thought.
You could be anyone.”
—
6 people liked it
You could be anyone, he thought.
You could be anyone.”
“I never wanted to get to a point in my life where I knew what was going to happen next. I felt like most people just couldn't wait until they found themselves settled down into a routine and they didn't have to think about the next day, or the next year, or the next decade because it was all planned out for them. I can't understand how people can settle for having just one life.”
—
4 people liked it
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