Fascinating so far, like a pile of rope in the middle of a room. I can't wait to see how/if/why the pieces are connected.

What is it like to lose one's moorings, abandon a family? "What kind of person decides they can throw everything away and - reinvent themselves? As if you can just discard the parts of your life that you didn't want anymore. " (page. 198) This is the central and unrelenting question in Chaon's unsettling novel, Await Your Reply. Six characters in search of identity and each other, converge and merge in three separate stories, reflecting on the themes of loss, love and survival.

I thought this was terrific -- compelling and well-written, with plenty to mull over afterward. The book is just saturated with loss, not just death but also the lateral, losing-yourself kind -- it's dark, but the writing is lush and the storyline smart and the whole thing worked just right. This is going on my list of fall recs for sure.