Among the Missing: Stories

Among the Missing: Stories - Paperback

$21.00
Sale price  $21.00 Regular price 
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Among the Missing: Stories

Among the Missing: Stories - Paperback

$21.00
Sale price  $21.00 Regular price 

Book Overview

by Dan Chaon (Author)

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST - A sharp and haunting collection of twelve stories about people who live far outside the American Dream, while wondering which decision, which path, or which accident brought them to this place.

"Unforgettable . . . hums with life and wry humor . . . The stories sneak resolutely up on you, like new weather that hits before you know it."--The New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice)

Each story in Among the Missing radiates with sharp humor, mystery, wonder, and startling compassion as Dan Chaon imagines today's family instinctively trying to stay together, only to find itself lost in the throes of a chaotic, modern world.

In "Safety Man," a young widow and her children become increasingly attached to an inflatable protector-doll, as the world outside seems to grow ever more threatening; "Big Me" follows a lonely, imaginative twelve-year-old boy who believes an older (slightly creepier) version of himself has moved in next door; In "I Demand to Know Where You're Taking Me," a man blinded by love for his imprisoned brother ignores the warnings of his distant wife and a talking parrot who both witness things he's never seen; and "Among the Missing" explores how the death of a family, found buckled in their car at the bottom of a lake, casts a shadow on a small town and intrudes upon the narrator's relationship with his aging mother.

A writer of enormous talent and emotional depth, Chaon mines the psychological landscape of his characters to dazzling effect. Among the Missing lingers in the mind through its subtle grace and power of language.

Front Jacket

In this haunting, bracing new collection, Dan Chaon shares stories of men, women, and children who live far outside the American Dream, while wondering which decision, which path, or which accident brought them to this place. Chaon mines the psychological landscape of his characters to dazzling effect. Each story radiates with sharp humor, mystery, wonder, and startling compassion. "Among the Missing lingers in the mind through its subtle grace and power of language.

Author Biography

Dan Chaon is the acclaimed author of Fitting Ends and Other Stories. He was anthologized in Best American Short Stories 1996 and The Pushcart Prize 2000. He has been published in such magazines as Story, Ploughshares, and Triquarterly, and has received many prizes and honors including a grant from the Ohio Arts Council. He lives in Ohio with his wife and children. He is currently at work on his first novel.

Number of Pages: 288
Dimensions: 0.64 x 8.26 x 5.62 IN
Publication Date: January 29, 2002
Accelerated Reader:
Quiz Name: Among the Missing
Interest Level: Upper Grades, 9-12
Reading Level: 6.2
Point Value: 12
ISBN9780345441614
Author Dan Chaon
PublisherBallantine Books
GenreLiterature
FormatPaperback
PublishedJanuary 2002
LanguageENG- English
Pages288
Weight1.0 lb
Target AudienceTeens & young adults
Print SizeStandard Print

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About Dan Chaon

Dan Chaon is the author of several books, including Ill Will, a national bestseller that was named one of the ten best books of the year by Publishers Weekly. Other works include the short story collection Stay Awake, a finalist for the Story Prize; the national bestseller Await Your Reply; and Among the Missing, a finalist for the National Book Award. Chaon's fiction has appeared in the Best American Short Stories, the Pushcart Prize Anthologies, and the O. Henry Collection. He has been a finalist for the National Magazine Award in Fiction and the Shirley Jackson Award, and he was the recipient of an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature. Chaon lives in Cleveland.

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