This book is a series of short stories by Dan Chaon. These stories are not for the faint of heart/the sensitive. Themes throughout the book include [family] tragedy and death, and can sometimes be difficult to read. The first two stories, "The Bees" is a poor introduction to the rest of the book, as it is, in my opinion, one of the most depressing. Others, such as "To Psychic Underworld" were lighter and thought-provoking. The title story, "Stay Awake" is the most cerebral, literally. About a young girl who was born with her malformed twin attached to her head, the parents struggle with the what- if's and what-now's. As a woman in my late stage of my pregnancy, I found this difficult to read, yet enlightening. Some of the stories' endings leave much to be desired, such as "The Bees", "Patrick Lane, Flabbergasted", and "I Wake Up". The endings were abrupt and unsatisfactory. Other stories, such as "Slowly We Open Our Eyes" has a strong, powerful conclusion. Overall, this book was not cohesive, and overall forgettable. I chose to give it a 3/5 stars for the choice stories that I enjoyed. Dan Chaon seems to be a talented writer, but may do well to edit, extend, and/or revisit his stories before full publishing.