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Await Your Reply

by Dan Chaon

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
1,57315311,201 (3.75)131
Fiction. Literature. Mystery. HTML:BONUS: This edition contains an Await Your Reply discussion guide.
The lives of three strangers interconnect in unforeseen waysâ??and with unexpected consequencesâ??in acclaimed author Dan Chaonâ??s gripping, brilliantly written new novel.
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Longing to get on with his life, Miles Cheshire nevertheless canâ??t stop searching for his troubled twin brother, Hayden, who has been missing for ten years. Hayden has covered his tracks skillfully, moving stealthily 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 Lattimore sneaks away from the small town of Pompey, Ohio, with her charismatic former history teacher. They arrive in Nebraska, in the middle of nowhere, at a long-deserted motel next to a dried-up reservoir, to figure out the next move on their path to a new life. But soon Lucy begins to feel quietly uneasy.

My whole life is a lie, thinks Ryan Schuyler, who has recently learned some shocking news. In response, he walks off the Northwestern University campus, hops on a bus, and breaks loose from his existence, which suddenly seems abstract and tenuous. Presumed dead, Ryan decides to remake himselfâ??through unconventional and precarious means.

Await Your Reply
is a literary masterwork with the momentum of a thriller, an unforgettable novel in which pasts are invented and reinvented and the future is both seductively uncharted and peril… (more)
  1. 10
    American Gods {original} by Neil Gaiman (infiniteletters)
  2. 10
    You Remind Me of Me by Dan Chaon (LynnB)
  3. 00
    The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier (meganharris)
    meganharris: Shares similarities in alternating story line with Await Your Reply.
  4. 00
    Travel Writing by Peter Ferry (jilld17)
  5. 00
    The Lola Quartet by Emily St. John Mandel (baystateRA)
    baystateRA: Similar tone of underlying tension in tangentially connected stories. Both excellent!
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» See also 131 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 153 (next | show all)
Great novel. Intrigued from page one and guessing until the last chapter. I'm not sure that I could explain what it's about to anyone but I certainly enjoyed it. ( )
  hmonkeyreads | Jan 25, 2024 |
Three interwoven stories that converge related to identity theft/non-identity/schizophrenia. ( )
  monicaberger | Jan 22, 2024 |
Strong at first, but I saw the ending coming a mile away ( )
  nogomu | Oct 19, 2023 |
Interesting, but not really that engaging. The theme of reinventing one's identity while essentially playing out the same personality issues is interesting, but has been dealt with more gracefully elsewhere, for instance with Mona Simpon's book Anywhere But Here [bc:Anywhere But Here|96861|Anywhere But Here|Mona Simpson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171355148s/96861.jpg|93362] ( )
  lschiff | Sep 24, 2023 |
Recommended by Andy. Entertaining and disturbing. My e-book edition has an interview with the author at the end where he states that he didn't really plan the relationships in this book, they just developed. I find this disturbing as well - but I'm not sure why. ( )
  markm2315 | Jul 1, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 153 (next | show all)
It’s hard to talk about Await Your Reply at length without giving too much away. In fact, the less you know about the novel going in, the better. Chaon does a great job of shifting the novel’s chronology around to trickle the plotlines out as he sees fit. It’s a gimmick that could have been hackneyed, but Chaon makes it work here. He seems more interested in filling in the lives of his characters than constructing some complex whodunit — and the result is a more nuanced, creepy affair than sensory jarring thriller.
 
[A] dark, deliciously disturbing literary thriller... Await Your Reply is a story that unfolds with chilling precision. You'll be spellbound from start to finish.
added by Shortride | editPeople, Michelle Green (Aug 31, 2009)
 
You need to step into this work of psychological suspense completely unprepared for what lurks in here. If somebody starts telling you what they liked best, put your fingers in your ears and sing: "La, la, la, la!" But you can trust me -- which is just what all the manipulative creeps in this novel say.
added by SqueakyChu | editThe Washington Post, Ron Charles (Aug 26, 2009)
 
Chaon is a dark, provocative writer, and “Await Your Reply” is a dark, provocative book; in bringing its three strands together, Chaon has fashioned a braid out of barbed wire.
 
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Epigraph
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 a list of crimes that I was destined to commit. Anna Akhmatova "Northern Eagles"
Dedication
For Sheila
First words
We are on our way to the hospital, Ryan's father says.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Fiction. Literature. Mystery. HTML:BONUS: This edition contains an Await Your Reply discussion guide.
The lives of three strangers interconnect in unforeseen waysâ??and with unexpected consequencesâ??in acclaimed author Dan Chaonâ??s gripping, brilliantly written new novel.

Longing to get on with his life, Miles Cheshire nevertheless canâ??t stop searching for his troubled twin brother, Hayden, who has been missing for ten years. Hayden has covered his tracks skillfully, moving stealthily 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 Lattimore sneaks away from the small town of Pompey, Ohio, with her charismatic former history teacher. They arrive in Nebraska, in the middle of nowhere, at a long-deserted motel next to a dried-up reservoir, to figure out the next move on their path to a new life. But soon Lucy begins to feel quietly uneasy.

My whole life is a lie, thinks Ryan Schuyler, who has recently learned some shocking news. In response, he walks off the Northwestern University campus, hops on a bus, and breaks loose from his existence, which suddenly seems abstract and tenuous. Presumed dead, Ryan decides to remake himselfâ??through unconventional and precarious means.

Await Your Reply
is a literary masterwork with the momentum of a thriller, an unforgettable novel in which pasts are invented and reinvented and the future is both seductively uncharted and peril

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Book description
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 stealthily 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 Lattimore sneaks away from the small town of Pompey, Ohio, with her charismatic former history teacher. They arrive in Nebraska, in the middle of nowhere, at a long-deserted motel next to a dried-up reservoir, to figure out the next move on their path to a new life. But soon Lucy begins to feel quietly uneasy.

My whole life is a lie, thinks Ryan Schuyler, who has recently learned some shocking news. In response, he walks off the Northwestern University campus, hops on a bus, and breaks loose from his existence, which suddenly seems abstract and tenuous. Presumed dead, Ryan decides to remake himself--through unconventional and precarious means.
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