Dan Chaon has shown people enduring difficult, life-altering events in these twelve short stories. They are haunting and true to the title - Stay Awake - because the comfort and oblivion of sleep is not possible for many of the characters in these stories. They are also perhaps reflective of Chaon's own grief following the death of his wife. In these stories he has encapsulated extraordinarily dire situations that ordinary people face. The tone that connects the stories is unremittingly bleak, and the writing is truly excellent.

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