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Await Your Reply

by Dan Chaon (Goodreads Author)

3.56 of 5 stars 3.56 · rating details · 7,641 ratings · 1,734 reviews

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

Hardcover, 336 pages

Published August 25th 2009 by Ballantine Books (first published August 15th 2009)

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Best Books of 2009

85th out of 1,225 books — 6,459 voters

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

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The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

Best Literary Mysteries

121st out of 399 books — 993 voters

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Community Reviews

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Jun 07, 2012 Steve rated it 4 of 5 stars

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 storylines the key figures show both the ability and proclivity to change. It quickly becomes apparent (and thus does not qualify as a spoiler to mention) that identi...more

18 likes · like · see review

Aug 16, 2010 Jeanette rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: all-fiction, miss-trees

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 stumbles of the characters made me...more

8 likes · like · see review

Mar 19, 2013 Dustin Crazy little brown owl rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: people who are attracted to the idea of Alternate Realities :-)

Shelves: goodreads-authors, group-reads, amazing, read-in-2010, disturbing, worth-reading-again-and-again, bizarre, read-in-2012, read-in-2013

"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 have to do."
-EPICTETUS (as quoted in Await Your Reply)
---------------------------...more

3 likes · like · see review

Jun 04, 2010 Lisa (Harmonybites) rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Lovers of Literate Mysteries

Recommended to Lisa (Harmonybites) by: A friend

Shelves: contemporary, mystery, suspense, literary-fiction, crime, novels, fiction

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

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Oct 24, 2010 William Thomas rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: dreck

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 the low road and use the premise...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 the low road and use the premise in a very literal manner. No metaphysical turmoil and no existential conundrums to be found within these pages that isn't expressly laid out for the reader in very literal terms. He doesn't allow us to come to our own conclusions or lead us to his, but instead spoon feeds us up until his Sixth Sense styled ending where we are supposed to gasp and be shocked.

I wasn't impressed with the author's style, finding it vague and often ambivalent to it's own self, offhand and slight as if it were completely disinterested in the telling of the story. And that came through in spades because it made me feel disinterested.

The book is filled with flat, two-dimensional characters, suffering from a severe lack of characterization. Instead of utilizing character actions to give us a sense of self and identity, we are subjected to all sorts of impertinent and unnecessary back stories (however a person can be defined by their pasts, but Chaon uses these stories more as filler in an already thin novel, and it is a stretch to see how these interludes in any way affect the story he is trying to tell). In a story about identity, shouldn't the characters identities and characteristics be the strongest points of the novel? Not here. Not in this book. Instead, Chaon sees himself as a clever master of plot, giving us weak characters in order to drive the story home. And instead of a thrill-ride as some called it we got a lazy Sunday drive to the church social. The book is thin- in it's plot, it's theme and it's characters- a literary anorexic.

Added:
I would rather not dwell on what would make re book better, but talk about it's theme (which it didn't convey at all in any real sense). However, I am a little too tired to write about it in any real way at the moment.(less)

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Feb 07, 2012 Jeniffer Almonte rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, reviewed

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 with each oth...more 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 with each other in ways that are very easy to predict. The central "mystery" is solved without any effort, to the point that the big reveal at the end feels a little pointless. Which is fine with me since I don't really care about being surprised--but since there was no story and no characters, and no surprise, the book itself kind of feels pointless.

The writing is often good and some parts of the story are clever. Yet, while the author tells a pretty huge and involved story, he only shares a tiny portion of it with the reader.

"Yeah, this guy bankrupted a company worth billions of dollars!" Oh really? That sounds interesting. What happened??? Chaon never says.

"A professor's life was ruined because of him." It was?? Tell me more... Nope, not getting any more details.

And so on and so forth. I mean, it's this whole dramatic plot that we hear in bits and pieces, always implied or alluded to. We are told about it in a few lines, rather than having it shown. It's just beyond silly... Especially since the character, when we actually see him, doesn't really seem all that capable of getting people disbarred and so on and so forth. Beyond being silly it was lazy. How much easier to import excitement like this, rather than actually creating it.

In the end, there is no real resolution. Or rather, I guess there is, but we don't really know what it is and we knew so little to begin with that we can't exactly guess. The elements for a really interesting and unique novel were present. But an interesting and unique novel is not what it became.(less)

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May 11, 2012 Dani Peloquin rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book has been discussed and reviewed in almost every newspaper and magazine from the most prominent in the country to your everyday bloggers like myself. It was also on numerous top ten lists for 2009. Clearly, it has something about it that attracts readers and I just had to know what that was. Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed because after all of the rave reviews I found this book to be a bit lacking. Of course the plot was compelling, the issues addressed were extremely intriguing...more This book has been discussed and reviewed in almost every newspaper and magazine from the most prominent in the country to your everyday bloggers like myself. It was also on numerous top ten lists for 2009. Clearly, it has something about it that attracts readers and I just had to know what that was. Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed because after all of the rave reviews I found this book to be a bit lacking. Of course the plot was compelling, the issues addressed were extremely intriguing and thought provoking, and the narration was exceptional. Still, I found something about it to be dull.

Basically, there are three stories that all revolve around the same theme: identity and its fluidity. The first story is that of a college dropout named Ryan who is introduced to the reader as his hand is being cut off by a mobster of some sort who is after his father. The reader soon finds out that Ryan and his father have had a troubled past that has just recently been revealed to Ryan. The second storyline follows that of Miles who is trying to track down his long lost brother. Miles believes that his brother is a paranoid schizophrenic or something of the sort and only receives sporadic correspondence from him. Yet, whenever he does receive one of his brother's cryptic letters, Miles spends weeks and months trying to locate his brother. It is one of these trips that opens Miles' section. Lastly, is the storyline that revolves around Lucy and her boyfriend (and high school teacher) George. Lucy has little family and finds solace in George's affections. It is for this reason that the two decide to run away together and start a new life.

Each of these story lines runs independently throughout the book until the finally all come together in the last few pages. Yet, an observant reader could easily see their connection much earlier. I thought that each story as extremely compelling. The characters were well developed and the atmosphere was perpetually heavy. The majority of the novel read like a thriller which made me speed through it in only a couple of days. Once I got to the end, I was a bit unsatisfied. All of the events that I predicted had some to fruition and I felt that there was little surprise or intrigue towards the novel's conclusion.

The overall story was unique in that it dealt with issues of identity theft and fraud. While centuries of writers have written of issues involving identity, this book delves into the modern issues of identity and how easy it has become to manipulate one's identity using technology. Though I don't believe it was one of the best of 2009, I did find it to be extremely interesting and it raised questions that I think people will continue to battle with for decades.

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Dec 17, 2012 Jason added it

Shelves: read-2010

This book begins with a severed hand and a carride to the hospital. Additionally, it takes the form of a thriller, with intersecting plot lines, money and murder, intrigue and revenge. It is not a thriller and it is not about those things.

Dan Chaon's newest, glorious novel is about identity. While the plot revolves around identity theft, this is only a hook, a contemporary in with the audience. What is most fascinating about identity theft is the fragmentation of identity itself, who are we and...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 19, 2013 Stefanie rated it 2 of 5 stars

I enjoyed the author's exploration of the concept of identity, but I found that the theme was so pronounced, it's all you notice of the story. Some of the characterizations fell short, and I didn't have the sense that I was really getting to know any of them very well. Lucy was the most compelling, perhaps because she was so lost, such an easy victim for "George Orson," and so clearly naïve despite her intellect. Ryan perplexed me; it wasn't clear why he would so readily give up a family that ha...more

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Jan 26, 2013 Bruce rated it 5 of 5 stars

Nice to finally get a chance to read Dan Chaon. His is a name I’ve heard many times, and of course, seen on the bookstore shelves, but after reading this terrific novel, I’m really surprised no one has recommended him. His work is calm and even and surprising and shocking and penetrating all at the same time.

This particular novel is a remarkable exploration of the self, and more specifically, of identity, and all the dimensions of identity that we both take for granted and readily dismiss to sui...more Nice to finally get a chance to read Dan Chaon. His is a name I’ve heard many times, and of course, seen on the bookstore shelves, but after reading this terrific novel, I’m really surprised no one has recommended him. His work is calm and even and surprising and shocking and penetrating all at the same time.

This particular novel is a remarkable exploration of the self, and more specifically, of identity, and all the dimensions of identity that we both take for granted and readily dismiss to suit our needs. The universality of this exploration is really what makes Await Your Reply such a tremendous work: one cannot imagine a single person who, reading these horrific accounts, which revolve around the exploits of one particular brilliant schizophrenic super criminal—a beast in some eyes, perhaps, but certainly a lost child in others— one cannot imagine a single person who would not find a piece of themselves in here, a nagging question or fading bit of their own identity there on the page.

It’s a story that starts as several stories that appear to be happening in parallel. As the stories converge, though, we find that time is really immaterial. Chaon seems to almost dismiss it altogether, building the accounts, the characters, the separate stories, and only in the closing chapters, tying them all together and giving the reader a sense of the correct sequence of things. This is entirely apropos of the subject matter, of course, which is the fleeting dimension of identity: the things it does for us, and the ways it can work against us. All of Chaon’s characters, in fact, experiment with alternative identities, some willfully and with menace, others in response to the circumstances they find themselves in. But however they come to their experimentations, all the characters think deeply about this and share their thoughts with us. We are invested and concerned from the first pages, and we are both relieved and horrified by the novel’s end. But we are also able to consider our own identities with more openness and freedom, and a heightened awareness of the consequences.
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Jan 04, 2013 Jann Barber rated it 4 of 5 stars

Three separate stories develop as the reader begins to wonder "how" or even "if" the people involved will somehow come together by the end of the book. Somewhere along the way, the reader also begins to wonder whether or not the stories are developing during the same time period, or is Doctor Who's "wibbly wobbly, timey wimey" definition of time at work here.

Do we really know other people?

What's in a name?

The title is drawn from the type of email we have all received where a person unknown to u...more

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Nov 15, 2012 Nate LeBoutillier rated it 2 of 5 stars

It took me a long time to finish this guy, and I kept with it mainly because it came so highly recommended from a number readers I respect. I don't know what exactly it was that I never totally fell for, but I figure it has something to do with the (what I consider, anyway) cardinal sin of withholding in order to create tension and/or conflict.
I felt like the severed hand thing in the opening was a big tease, especially I had to read some 250 pages more to find out what that was all about. Th...more

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Jul 28, 2012 Lit Folio rated it 5 of 5 stars

I should have known that if anyone is to write the definitive horror story in these sophisticated, hi-tech times, it would be none-other than superb story-teller, Dan Chaon. For me, it started with a light jolt when I finally got my hands on this read. I just knew it was going to be a good one. Surely, I would complete this in a week's time. But this novel turned out to be so entrancingly good, I stayed up til 4 am reading and reading, not giving a care to my lack of sleep. Actually, I carried t...more

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Apr 05, 2012 Travis rated it 4 of 5 stars

Well, I'm not crazy about the theme of this one. It's "identity", which seems a little broad, or maybe "identity through the lens of people who are in identity crisis." Still a little broad, and pretty much the theme of every book. But Chaon has thrown "identity theft" into the mix. Ah. Now we have a book, and a timely one at that.

I'm also not usually a big fan of books where this much vital information is withheld from the reader, and I'm definitely not a fan of books where a big, chaotic plot...more

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Mar 31, 2012 Christina rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-club-books, contemporary-fiction

This was an interesting exploration on the effect that the free-wheeling, dangerous life of a charming chameleon has on other people in his life. The brother that spends way too much time chasing him down, the left behind lovers and friends and partners, all have their lives changed by this familiar stranger. Many of the changes are for the worse, and the people find themselves at a loss when the jack of all trades abandons them. Which he does, repeatedly.

(view spoiler)...more

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Dec 30, 2011 Giedra rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-club, kindle

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 Ryan learns abo...more

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Aug 01, 2011 Madame X rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, extra-clever-plotting

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 happened...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 happened and as he imagined them, on a personal and global level. Finally, Hayden was put in a mental institution - but he escaped, and Miles hasn't seen his brother since then, ten years earlier. Hayden sends Miles clues as to his whereabouts, and Miles always tries to use those clues to locate Hayden. But before he can track his brother down, Hayden slips out of reach. In AWAIT YOUR REPLY, Miles is driving north through Canada to the Arctic Circle. He knows that he's on another wild goose chase, that he probably won't find his brother, but he can't help but try.

Story #2: Ryan is failing out of college when he gets a phone call from his uncle Jay, who has some surprising news: Ryan isn't the biological child of his parents, as he'd always assumed. Jay says he is Ryan's real father, explaining that he got his girlfriend pregnant as a teenager but the girlfriend didn't want an abortion and wasn't ready to be a parent. Ryan ended up being raised by Jay's sister, who couldn't have children of her own. Jay thinks it's his duty to let Ryan know the truth, and Ryan, already at a crisis point, makes a radical decision: he drops out of college and moves to Michigan with Jay. Once in Michigan, he's quickly wrapped up in Jay's illegal money-making scheme, identity theft. When we meet Ryan, he's been with his father long enough for things to go terribly wrong - and Jay leaves Ryan to take the fall.

Story #3: Lucy is a brilliant senior in high school whose life is crumbling around her - her parents have died in a car crash, she's living with her older sister who can barely make ends meet for the two of them, and overconfidence leads her to apply to only three colleges: Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. When she's rejected from all three, Lucy doesn't know what to do - but her high school history teacher, George Orson, has an idea. He asks her to run away with him, he promises her a life of wealth and leisure, and Lucy decides it's the best option she has. But instead of international travel and luxury, Lucy finds herself living in a creepy, abandoned hotel with an increasingly distant George Orson. He assures her a bright future is just around the corner, but Lucy is increasingly aware that she's involving herself in a very, very bad situation.

AWAIT YOUR REPLY is a very clever novel, but it's also psychologically astute. The writing is good, the characters vivid and real. I was very surprised by the final reveal, but at the same time it seemed like it should have been obvious all along - I think this is a sign of a truly well crafted surprise ending. Worth the read.
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Jul 27, 2011 Michele Weiner rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. The book begins in the middle and ends in the middle. In between, it tells the story of twins, Miles and Hayden Cheshire, whose father was a hypnotist/magician/motivational speaker. Miles is mild-mannered and drifting. Hayden, a genius who has a mental breakdown and is diagnosed with schizophrenia. He disappears and Miles spends his life looking for his twin. We also meet Ryan. He is a discontented small=town boy whose mother and father have adopted him and not told him that he is really the son...more The book begins in the middle and ends in the middle. In between, it tells the story of twins, Miles and Hayden Cheshire, whose father was a hypnotist/magician/motivational speaker. Miles is mild-mannered and drifting. Hayden, a genius who has a mental breakdown and is diagnosed with schizophrenia. He disappears and Miles spends his life looking for his twin. We also meet Ryan. He is a discontented small=town boy whose mother and father have adopted him and not told him that he is really the son of her brother, who was 15 when Ryan was born. Ryan is thought to have drowned. He didn't, wasn't even near the lake, but witnesses claim to have seen him there, and a funeral is arranged. Ryan has screwed up, flunking out of college having spent his scholarship money on nonsense, and decides that he is better off dead to his parents.

The rest of the story is about Jay, Ryan's father, mentoring him in being an imposter, and George Orson, who impersonates a HS teacher and persuades a teenager named Lucy to accompany him. Her parents have died in an automobile accident. Miles and Hayden's father died early, and his mother in a fire of suspicious (to Miles) origin. The stories weave in and out. Miles has followed Hayden's trail many times across the country, and on his last effort, winds up in the NWT of Canada, above the Arctic Circle, where he meets a woman whose sister was known to have been with Miles when he was called Miles Spady (after their hated stepfather) Miles believes the symbols left behind there indicate that Hayden has committed suicide. Rachel has not been seen since she left with him years before. Miles actually met her in ND when he last chased his brother down.

Jay and Ryan are attacked by criminals and Ryan's hand is cut off. Jay takes him to the hospital, leaving him with money and a note. He will meet him in Quito as soon as he can. He never shows up, but Ryan is adjusting. George Orson and Lucy spend some time in a midwestern motel abandoned when their reservoir dried up. Lucy gradually realizes that George is not his name, his history is not his history, and he expects her to join him in abandoning her identity. He insists that they play father and daughter, go to the Ivory Coast and pick up his millions of dollars. He becomes paranoid that people are following him, taking money out of his fake accounts. Just what happened to Jay!! Lucy finds some Russian mobsters in his hotel room and escapes with a small amount of money and a ticket to Italy. George's fate in unknown, and Lucy never finds out who he is. We do. He is Hayden. We are at first led to believe that he is Ryan's father, but it turns out that he has befriended Ryans father and he is now dead, as is Rachel, whom he next befriended. He has been searching for one person who can love him (his mother didn't), but something always goes wrong. So he took Jay's identity for a while, contacted Ryan and told him he was his father, etc. Ryan never finds out that the Jay he knew is not his father. The book is about the malleability of identity. It's only an inch deep, and people can be anything or anybody they want to be.(less)

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Jul 26, 2011 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 its pacin...more

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Jul 26, 2011 Travis rated it 4 of 5 stars

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 continues to...more

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Jul 19, 2011 Nora rated it 3 of 5 stars

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

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Jul 07, 2011 Jessica rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: adventure

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 teacher. Th...more

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Jun 17, 2011 Kelly rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, fun, liked-the-ending, whoa

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 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 so quickly that I was actually reading whole passages and not absorbing it in my race to get to the end.

Secondly, I figured out where the book was going, but not totally. I don’t know about you, but when I figure out the whole story before the end of the book, I’m pretty irritated, but some of you might be vindicated in an “ah HA, I KNEW it!” kind of way, and I think this book appeals to both types. I was able to figure out a chunk of where the book was going, but was still trying to put together pieces right until the very end, which kept the book interesting. On top of being vindicated at the end when realizing I had figured out a good portion of the ending, there was still more. I mean, a whole big piece that I had just not put together.

Thirdly, the book ends really well. Not so well that it has one of those epilogues that gives a nice, neat update on each character’s resolution and what they’re up to now, but well enough that it’s not like the end of LOST, where there’s about 1700 unanswered questions and no hope of getting them answered. The end definitely wraps up the book clearly, tying the book itself up in a clear package, but doesn’t really give you anything outside the scope of the book. It pulls everything together without forcing over-explanatory information onto you at the end. You know how at the end of every episode, when Monk figures out what happened, he walks you through the whole thing, putting together all of the clues into one cohesive picture? There’s none of that. You can do that on your own time, this isn’t the USA network.

Fourthly, I won’t say there’s a twist, because I truly don’t think there is a twist, but there is one final piece of information that becomes clear as the book is wrapping up, and even that is not spelled out for you, which is good, because that would be insulting. Just one final little piece that you can add on to everything you’ve already read, if you want to – I suppose some people might ignore it, or not see the significance and kind of miss the whole point – but I will say that the payoff at the end of this book is more payoff-y than anything I have read in a long time.

I think, all in all, I can just say that I was extremely pleased with this book on all fronts – how it held my attention, the writing itself, the story and the pace of the story, and the ending that I stayed up quite late to finish. I don’t think it’s a book of any great consequence that is going to stay with me forever, and while I’ve already said it and it’s an extremely generic descriptor, even this morning I remain quite pleased with the book.
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May 31, 2011 ABC Group rated it 4 of 5 stars

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/deed driven narrative is n...more

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May 19, 2011 Ti rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 anything could have happened to him, h...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 anything could have happened to him, he somehow senses that Miles has gotten himself into trouble. Ryan is a young man going nowhere. He receives a call from his birth father Jay, who he originally thought to be his uncle, and decides to join him in his life of crime. Lucy, a recent high school grad, decides to take off with George, her high school history teacher to live in an abandoned mansion in Nebraska.

Interwoven between these stories is an email scam that is all too familiar in this day and age. The old phishing scam where someone emails you to tell you that you’ve been left millions of dollars and that all they need is your personal information. This is where the title of the book comes into play.

As the story plays out, and the relationships between these characters make more sense, you can’t help but feel sorry for these people. None of them are particularly likable and none of them are strong enough to pull themselves out of the hole they’ve dug for themselves. They are a miserable group of people, depressed in different ways, yet depressed just the same. Their desire for a better life tugs at the heartstrings because they are so real. So desperate and so real.

This is one of those quiet books that forces you to consider the human soul and its desperation and utter loneliness. It’s bleak. True. Yet hope exists, it’s just a tad out of reach for these characters and their struggle to find it is what keeps you reading. Dan Chaon knows people and is not afraid to expose all of their insecurities. This is what I appreciated most about this novel. His ability to expose all of their vulnerabilities in a realistic way. Overall, a very satisfying read.

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Mar 12, 2011 Angela S. rated it 5 of 5 stars

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 from Ohio to no...more

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Feb 26, 2011 switterbug (Betsey) rated it 4 of 5 stars

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 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 frequently wondered where I am, where this is going. But an ominous atmosphere of mendacity and a disjointed, shadowy sense of the sinister pervaded.

Alternating chapters distinguish the storylines. In the opening pages, we encounter a disturbing and unusual scene of vague, escaped violence and torment, as Ryan and his father are headed to the hospital. In the next chapter, we are introduced to recent high-school graduate Lucy and her lover, George, who was her twelfth-grade history teacher. They are headed toward a new life, far away from where they were teacher and student. Subsequently, we join Miles, a lonely man obsessed with the disappearance of his twin brother. These disparate narratives continue to alternately build with greater complexity and with mounting tension. All will be revealed by the closing pages, although the journey there is often ambiguous. I often felt restive and off-kilter while turning the pages, anxious for the story to become more transparent. I suspect that this was the author's intent, as these holes in our comprehension actually add weight and dimension to the story by giving it greater immediacy and urgency. Our participation as a reader is paramount to the theme of the story. I don't want to explain too much more, because I do not want to dilute the reader's tension and uncertainty. What I can say is that the question of identity, in its many guises, is the thing we are chasing, while it chases us.

Dan Chaon delivers this dark and dire tale with a cagey cachet. I am confident it will inspire lively discussion and debate between readers. (less)

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Jan 28, 2011 Paul Pessolano rated it 2 of 5 stars

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 she was in high school. She...more

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Jan 26, 2011 Hillary rated it 3 of 5 stars

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 millisecon...more

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May 28, 2012 Ann Douglas rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: novel, favorites, fiction, reviewed

This is an incredibly captivating novel. There's so much going on in terms of plot, character, and structure that you have to keep reading to find out what's going on. (Or, to look at it from the flip-side, you don't dare take a break from the book or you risk losing track of the intertwined stories and stories within stories.) I don't want to say too much about the book because I don't want to tamper with its magic. It's shocking, it's surprising, and it's satisfying. Highly recommended.

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About Dan Chaon

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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“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.” — 7 people liked it

“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.” — 7 people liked it

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