Thursday, February 16, 2012

REVIEW: Stay Awake, by Dan Chaon

Stay Awake, by Dan Chaon. Published 2012 by Random House.

I received a copy of Stay Awake via LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program.

Dan Chaon's latest book, a creepy, crackling collection of short stories, will definitely keep you up past your bedtime. Chaon's novel Await Your Reply (link is to my review) was one of my favorite reads last year; a breathtaking, page-turning, stomach-churning suspense fest, I flew through it in about two days, and I had high expectations for his new book.

And those expectations were by and large met. If you were a fan of Await Your Reply you'll love this collection of edgy and just plain messed-up tales filled with dysfunctional, haunted, sad, confused and unhappy people in unhappy situations. It sounds miserable, I know, but Chaon's pared-down, just-enough style makes these stories riveting. My favorite stories were the first and last; in the first, "The Bees," Gene is a man with a secret who tries to make a go of traditional family life in the suburbs. When his past keeps bubbling up, an unwitting tragedy engulfs the family. In the last story, "The Farm. The Gold. The Lily-White Hands," an omniscient narrator alternates between a solitary man and the adult children he once tried to kill. It's haunting and written like a poem; it gives me chills.

Chaon's writing is so hard to define; it's not quite horror but it's more than literary suspense. He creates vivid characters and settings, sometimes with terribly unsympathetic figures at the center of twisted and strange narratives- but no stranger than real life. In the story "I Wake Up," a young man named Robert is contacted by a woman calling herself Cassie and claiming to be his sister. She tells him bizarre tales of their childhood and other siblings but refuses to meet in person or send a photograph. Something about her stories doesn't quite add up, but Robert gets drawn in anyway and she forces him to think about the one person he wants to forget. Who needs caffeine with writing like Chaon's?

Rating: BUY


FTC Disclosure: I received this book for review from LibraryThing.com.

10 comments:

caite said...

Oh, this sounds right up my alley!

logankstewart said...

I listened to an interview on NPR's Here and Now yesterday (a Boston based show and my favorite NPR talk show, surely as a Bostonian you can tell me if Robin Young is treated as a celebrity?) with Chaon. I'd never heard of him, but from the clips they read and the discussion that followed, I was enthralled. Chaon talked about how he liked dealing with characters often below the radar and how they have lives too, lives that often as horrible and as awful as anyone elses. This sounded terrifyingly suspenseful, kind of like Winter's Bone or somesuch. Thanks for the review. I'll be sure to get to this one of these days.

Michelle (Red Headed Book Child) said...

Great review. I've wanted to read to Await your reply from all the good things i heard. I'm not a huge short story fan but this sounds good too.

bermudaonion said...

I think short stories are best when they're kind of messed up.

Zibilee said...

I just ordered this one from the library after reading a particularly stirring review of it the other day. I am not really in the mood for a dark book right now, but I will probably be soon, and it will be interesting to see what I think of it. Great review on this one today, Marie!

Sandy Nawrot said...

Oh yeah, I think Jenners just reviewed this! And she compared these stories to the dark side of Stephen King. I really need to read this. I'm off the library website to see if I can get my hands on it.

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said...

I like Await Your Reply as well, and now I must blame you for making me go off and buy the eBook --thanks Marie --told my husband it was your fault:0

RebeccaK said...

I really liked this collection- and Await Your Reply-too & reviewed it earlier this week. It's hard for me to care about characters in short stories sometimes, but Chaon draws you in quickly.

Kathleen said...

Sounds like an intriguing collection and one to add to my list.

stacybuckeye said...

I was intrigued by Jenners review and now another stellar recommendation!