A Book A Week

With some authors, I know exactly what to expect before I read the first page of their book. That isn't to say that it is a bad thing. In fact, sometimes I read a specific author because I know what I will get with their writing. Some authors, though, are more chameleon-like in their work. Each book marks a new exploration of genre, character, and style. Author Dan Chaon is one of those authors. His 2017 novel Ill Will left me craving even more from the inventive author, and I was happy to accept his latest Sleepwalk from his publisher. 

Who is Will Bear? It is hard to describe precisely who he is or what he does, and that's exactly the way Will wants it to be. He's a man of mystery, the kind of guy who prefers to live his life under the radar. Will has countless aliases that help him maintain his anonymity. At fifty years old, he's perfectly content traveling around the county in his camper van, accompanied by his rescue dog, the only living thing he can truly trust. He makes money by completing dangerous, legally questionable tasks for an underground agency that he's perfectly content with knowing nothing about. In his line of work, connections can be dangerous, so he stays off the grid. Will is troubled when his numerous burner phones begin ringing and the person on the line asks for him by name. Even more troubling, the person on the phone is claiming to be his biological daughter. This is not the kind of baggage a man like Will needs. 

Only an author as adept and courageous as Dan Chaon could write a book like Sleepwalk. I've learned to expect the unexpected with his writing, and this newest novel is no exception. It reads like an epic journey akin to The Odyssey or Don Quixote twisted up with a mind-bending Hunter S. Thompson-like slant. There are many stops along the way that allow the main character Will to reckon with his past and determine which direction his future will take. It isn't always clear that there is a defined endpoint to the expedition, but it is to Chaon's credit that the reader doesn't really care. The fun is in the discovery of this masterfully written character and the various elements that have brought him to this point in his life. Setting the work in the not-too-distant future only enhances the hallucinatory, familiar yet unfamiliar quality of the writing. Sleepwalk is perhaps the most satisfyingly original novel I've read this year and a worthy addition to your summer reading list. 

For more information visit the author's website, Amazon, and Goodreads. 

(2022, 24)