This is a perfect bookclub book. You won't be able to get it out of your head, and you won't be able to wait to talk about it with someone else who has read it. Full of mindbending twists, gorgeous observations, and haunting themes of identity. ( )

Await Your Reply is a fantastic story with brilliant characters and a complete page turner. Nothing is as it seems. My first Dan Chaon book and I was not dissapointed.

This novel is told as three interwoven stories whose connections only become clear toward the very end of the book. It is a tribute to Chaon's abilities as a writer that these stories do mesh so unexpectedly well and that the reader is carried along far enough to see the connections. This is a sparse and dismal tale of self-definition and identity that sparks questions about who any of us really are inside our own minds and to the people around us.

Miles is haunted by the twin who disappeared, but never completely, whose forceful and potentially false memories of their shared childhood continue to keep Miles separated from reality and questioning his own existence. Ryan is haunted by his memories of his own failures and what he sees as his betrayal by his parents; his active attempt to remove himself from the world has far-reaching consequences. Orphaned Lucy is haunted by the life she fears she'll never have, the choices she won't have the opportunity to make; though her decision to runaway is brought on by a desire to remake herself, she finds it more difficult than expected to abandon her own knowledge of who she truly is.

This masterful work was a surprisingly quick read and yet raised questions that are still floating unanswered in my mind. Highly recommended- this book will stay with you. ( )

Dan Chaon's novel, Await Your Reply, is a collection of three stories that converge into one remarkable resolution at the very end of the novel. Chaon does a fantastic job of weaving the characters together and giving brief insights into the plot's direction. Chaon's characters are vivid and have great personality. The characters bring out a litany of emotions in the reader - empathy, disgust, hope, and trepidation to name a few. Chaon's novel is a great accomplishment in saying so much without wearing down the reader with too much description and detail. The story is vague without being confusing. Chaon obviously expects the reader to be able to connect the dots without being bashed over the head. Well done! ( )

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