Synopses & Reviews
Dan Chaon's first collection offers thirteen deft stories detailing the panicked angst of the American generation now approaching thirty. His characters are unnerved by the discrepancy between their youthful expectations and adult reality; they long for understanding and acceptance but are thwarted by failed love, family disruptions, dull work, and sexual confusion. His perfect pitch captures voices that still believe in life, but can't quite manage their lives.
Review
"Chaon artfully inhabits each character's skin, while his gifts for natural description--Nebraska wheatfields, Chicago's lakefront--are considerable, too. But it is his deft depiction of emotional exchange, or the lack of it, that fills these stories with life." --
Chicago TribuneReview
"Chaon's psychological insight, descriptive gifts and knack for conveying whole lives as they sculpt themselves against time make him a writer to savor--and to watch." --
Seattle TimesSynopsis
Fitting Ends is the first collection of fiction by the acclaimed author of the National Book Award finalist Among the Missing. Fitting Ends features thirteen stories detailing the almost panicked angst of the American generation now approaching thirty. Struggling with gaps between youthful expectations and adult experiences, these characters long for understanding and acceptance--but are thwarted by failed love, family disruptions, numbing work, and sexual confusion. Chaon is one of the most promising new voices in fiction, and this re-issued collection offers further evidence of his unique talent.
About the Author
Dan Chaon is the acclaimed author of Among the Missing, which was a finalist for the National Book Award, and You Remind Me of Me, which was named one of the best books of the year by The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, The Christian Science Monitor, and Entertainment Weekly, among other publications. Chaon's fiction has appeared in many journals and anthologies, including The Best American Short Stories, Pushcart Prize, and The O. Henry Prize Stories. He has been a finalist for the National Magazine Award in Fiction, and he was the recipient of the 2006 Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Chaon lives in Cleveland, Ohio, and teaches at Oberlin College, where he is the Pauline M. Delaney Professor of Creative Writing.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Spirit Voices
Chinchilla
Transformations
Fraternity
Sure I Will
My SIster's Honeymoon: A Videotape
Rapid Transit
Accidents
Do You Know What I Mean?
Dread
Ultrasound
Going Out
Fitting Ends