Stephen White - Alan Gregory discussion

Our Spring Group Read (April-June) is Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon :-) Please join the discussion here as you read or after you're done reading, however you like. Please use *Spoiler Alert* as needed as a courtesy to group members who have not finished the book or gotten to where you might be. Thanks everyone and Happy Reading!
Link to Dan's Author Profile on Goodreads:Dan Chaon

Thanks, Dustin, for organizing this!

You're Welcome :-) I just invited the author to join our discussion, hopefully we'll see him sometime during the group read.

I'm going to read Await Your Reply this month (soon). Anyone else ready to read it or maybe you've already started?

I just picked up from the library.

Are you gonna start it soon?

Probably this weekend.

I started Await Your Reply last night. Its very creepy!!!!!

Creepy? Sounds Great! I haven't started but I'll try to move it up on my priority list :-) I have the book and the CD. Kirby Heybourne is the narrator and he's well known in Utah/Idaho for LDS comedy so this should be fun.

LDS comedy? I am almost afraid to ask.

Oh, don't be afraid - It's funny - I'll post some links :-) bbs

Here's Kirby's website:
http://www.kirbyheyborne.com/

Here's the RM Movie Trailer that Kirby starred in . btw RM=Returned Missionary :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfLdiS...

Nice music but I don't get his humor.

Maybe you have to be LDS :-) He does do nice music though doesn't he? I'd only seen him in the movies but his voice is great - I'm excited for the audiobook!

I watched his videoblog on making the audiobooks. It was cute.

Now I know what you meant by "Creepy"! I've just started Await Your Reply.

Await Your Reply has 3 different story lines/character perspectives that will somehow interconnect. I think I'm gonna like Ryan's story the best :-)

*Minor Spoiler Alert Below - From Page ONE*

When a severed hand shows up on the first page, it's got to be a winner!

"On the seat beside him, in between him and his father, Ryan's severed hand is resting on a bed of ice in an eight-quart Styrofoam cooler."
-Await Your Reply, Page 1

*Minor Spoiler from Chapter 4*

"Above the wrist? Or below the wrist?"
-Await Your Reply, Chapter 4

This is great! I hope it continues!

I can't wait to find out how the three story lines connect. I like Lucy/George Orson story. Its very Norman Bates-esque with the motel and the house.

Yes. I've read a few more pages and Lucy's story is rather creepy also. They're all 3 great story lines I think :-)

This is my kind of book! I highly recommend this one! :-)

I loved the pirate stuff :-) Kirby did a great voice for the pirate named Bill McGregor - talk about creepy!

This book kept me guessing and trying to figure out how the stories connect - until the very last chapter! I thought I almost had it figured out and then there was a little twist. The only hint I can give is that all the story lines do not take place at the same time. I hope that's not too big of a hint :-)

I feel the same way about this book keeping you guessing to the end. I finished it earlier today and I can't wait to see what everyone has to say. I know I am starting to look at my computer somewhat suspiciously. What secrets can she be giving away??????

Just ordered it from library.

I think that I am going to do that also, get it from the library.

I'm about 1/2 way through. I'm most interested in Miles' story so we have all the characters covered.

******SPOILER******
I keep wondering if Hayden is imaginary or an alternate personality.

:-)Keep wondering Maicie ha ha ha

I loved the severed hand and also the pirates :-)

The hand. It's weird he never mentions it again.

:-)Oh don't worry, that severed hand will probably show back up some place ha! ha! ha!

Oooooh. Intrigue.

I just have to share this passage about the pirates - I love this part very much! :-)

*Minor Spoiler Alert - From Chapter 7*

The pirates would kiss Hayden, and sometimes they would cut off a hank of hair - "as a reminder of yer kisses, me lad" - and one of them even cut off a piece of his earlobe.
This particular pirate was Bill McGregor, and he was the one Hayden feared the most. Bill McGregor was the worst of them - and at night when everyone else was asleep, Bill McGregor would come looking for Hayden, his step slow and hollow on the planks of the deck, his voice a deep whisper.
"Boy," he would murmur. "where are you, boy?"
After Bill McGregor cut off the piece of Hayden's earlobe, he decided that he wanted more. Every time he caught Hayden, he would cut a small piece off of him. The skin of an elbow, the tip of a finger, a piece of his lip. He would grip the squirming Hayden and cut a piece off of him, and then Bill McGregor would eat the piece of flesh.
-Await Your Reply, Chapter 7

Yes, the pirate scene would be good in a horror book but is even better coming from Hayden, who is a little off.

I didn't have a chance to read most of the day because my husband tried to kill me. If anyone has ever planted buffalo grass you know what I mean. My hands are frozen into claws. I have about 100 pages to go and don't know if I have the strength to turn the page.

WOW! This book is incredible and I'm very tempted to turn back to page one and read it all over again. Can't wait to discuss it in depth but it's 2:30 a.m. and I'm exhausted.

I'm glad you liked it Maicie :-)

Maicie wrote: "I didn't have a chance to read most of the day because my husband tried to kill me..."

With words like this, I'm thinking you could write quite an interesting book yourself :-)

*************Spoiler*******************

So what does everyone think happened to Rachel? Is Hayden a murderer as well as a thief and con man?

*****Spoiler******

I'm not sure about Rachel but I do think Hayden killed the parents.

Christine wrote: "*****Spoiler******

I'm not sure about Rachel but I do think Hayden killed the parents."

***********spoiler**************888
So do you think Hayden is a sociopath? Did he fake his schizophrenia?

*********SPOILER***************
*******************************

My opinion is that he killed the parents and Rachel, and maybe others who were never in the story. I think that he probably was schizophrenic but then found early on that he could also use that to his advantage so exaggerated it. He really used it to manipulate Miles and it worked so well, he started manipulating everyone.

*****Spoiler******
Can you think of a better crime for a schizophrenic? Identity Theft! No wonder he was so good at assuming all those identities. It came naturally to him.

What an interesting book!!! I loved all the questions/comments on the meaning of "identity", and what a great vehicle for asking those questions--identity theft, and missing persons!!
~~~~~~~~Spoiler~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I never did figure out if Hayden was truly schizophrenic, but I lean more toward thinking he is a sociopath, with a genius IQ--what a scary combination. And what did happen to Rachel--I agree, he probably did kill his mom and step-dad, but I think probably Rachel met her demise at Hayden's hands as well. And to have identical twins whose personalities and identities are so very different, adds even more to the mystique and intricacy in this plot.