Tonight we will be having our much anticipated live chat with author Dan Chaon about his bestselling novel, Await Your Reply. As many of you know, in addition to wonderful reviews, Await Your Reply has been listed as one of the best books of 2009, in the Washington Post, The New York Times, Salon, the Chicago Tribune and many others, and we are very excited to have him here tonight.
The chat will take place right here on the blog, at 8:00 eastern time, and the first 1/2 hour will be questions that have been submitted by you readers and presented to Mr. Chaon, by me. Then, at 8:30, the chat room will be open to everyone, so that you will be able to “chat” with him yourselves.
Photo by B. Molnar
I have lifted some background information about Mr Chaon from his website (is that considered identity theft?) In addition to Await Your Reply, Dan is also the 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. Dan’s fiction has appeared in many journals and anthologies, including Best American Short Stories, The 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. Dan lives in Cleveland, Ohio, and teaches at Oberlin College, where he is the Pauline M. Delaney Professor of Creative Writing.
See you all here tonight, I hope!
So, I hate to sound so stupid but will Dan be in Ohio this evening, did you forward him the questions for the chat there? To all you New Englanders, on the news this morning they showed the youtube clip of the bigfoot sighting up in Maine. A family hiking in one of the state parks shot it, sure looks like an ape to me. Anyone remember that skull in Ann’s yard not too long ago. Wonder what killed that thing? Go check it out, number one clip on youtube this morning. Pretty creepy, guess there is some town in upstate NY with the most sighting in the US. Is it nonsense…..
I can’t wait, I’ve really been looking forward to this. I hope he picks some of my questions.
Remember everyone, EASTERN time!!! hehehe
Ann,
Have to work tonight will miss the chat….
Candy,
My daughter lives in upstate NY, the town is called Whitehall. There has been all sorts of “sightings” in that area. The Discovery Channel was up there a few years ago.
I’ll have to check out youtube…I personally don’t think there is anything up there because; he lives with me.LOL
My son’s nom de plume is “Sasquatch” he is a petite little thing.
Enjoy tonight everyone! aka “SquatchezMom”
I’m sorry I’m going to miss the chat. I have a meeting I have to go to, but I’m going to try to sneak a peek on my iphone. So in case I miss it, I just want to say I love this book, for all the reasons the reviewers did and for all the reasons it’s being nominated for awards and winning.
I think what really engaged me, though, was the theme and metaphor of identity–specifically, the way in which we shed and step into the many we occupy in a day, a month, a lifetime. Whether they illegal or not. Whether they’re real or not. Yet, sometimes the images we have of ourselves and others, which are often filled with so many emotions and values, does not change. So this disjuncture becomes a source of conflict. I like the way this conflict played out in Dan’s book.
Time to be serious, I enjoyed the book! The way the characters were intertwined was very interesting. Made me think twice about alot of things, but isn’t that what the book was meant to do? In this age of being able to find out anything about anybody is scary.
Looking forward to the chat. I’ll be there (at 5:00 California time…thanks for the reminder of the time difference Tracy.)
Cath, I hope I didn’t sound like a jerk, it’s just that there were a number of people who showed up at what they thought was the right time for the chat with Denis, only to be reminded it was Eastern time. I don’t want anyone to be disappointed!
Yes, Dan Chaon’s body will be in Ohio, but his words will be right here amongst us! Candy, I’m embarrassed to admit how much time I have just spent on YouTube looking for bigfoot. Link?
I found the Maine big foot link. It’s here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ5EyriQJHU
I think it’s a very large porcupine who has its fur/quills puffed up because of fear and cold.
Or it’s Sasquatch.
Ann – I keep asking the question. Do you have the next book in mind?
Hi Kim, sorry, I have a few books in mind. Will announce tomorrow. Suggestions?
I say the animal in the tree is a bear.
Tracy, I wasn’t being sarcastic, I appreciated the reminder. Sometimes I forget we’re on opposite sides of the country because we all “talk” in real time. No, you weren’t being a jerk, silly!
I do have suggestions….but it is sort of nice to be surprised.
I saw the youtube video. I think the Sasquatch is one of my old boyfriends. I always wondered where he ended up.
Ann-Thanks so much for all of your efforts1 I am so looking forward to tonight’s chat.
Aislinn-You crack me up!
Looking forward to the chat! Thank you, Ann. Maybe Sasquatch will join us.
So excited to be involved in the live chat with everyone and Dan tonight. I am still not finished with the book, but I really am involved in it and it takes a lot to get my scattered brain to focus on a good story. Ann’s books/blog are able to get me to focus and so is Dan’s style of writing.
The monkey/bear/sasquatch thing is wild. My fave part in the video is towards the end when the woman says, “I wonder what it is, I’ll go climb the tree..” ha! sure, go do that.
“see” you all here later on…
Tonight do I have to log into anywhere special, or will the chat be on the blog I was not part of the chat with DL, and I could not figure out where you guys where chatting at exactly. Helpless in Chicago.
Courtney – re. Sasquatch – you’re so right! “Oh look, darling, there’s a starving cheetah in the rose garden. Let’s go pet it.” I’m starting to see visions of a Balloon Boy sequel.
I didn’t watch the video until Courtney’s comment, lololol I liked how they were whistling for it like a dog.
Man, that is freaky! I thought for sure it was a bear, but then from the other side it sure looked like an ape. Could an ape live in that low temperature? I’m creeped out!
Candy, when it gets to be 8, refresh Ann’s main blog page. An entry for the chat will appear, with a thing to click on for you to log in. Choose a user name so everyone doesn’t show up as user numbers.
Yes, a reminder on how to use the chat. As Tracy said, you must either refresh or log back onto the blog, yes, right here, and at 8:00 there will be a live chat box. I still haven’t heard from the web person about how to make it a private chat at the beginning, so it might just be another open forum, but I hope not. He has promised to contact me well before 8:00. SO when you log on you need to type in your name. You can’t leave a space between your first and last name, you can just use your first, last or nickname or whatever. You can choose a color for your font which helps tell everybody apart. It’s really fun. I’ll reveal later a very fun idea I have for a regular feature using the live chat. See you all at 8:00
I’m on a break between clients, and just popping in. I am sorry I won’t be able to participate in the chat later this evening (I’m on the West Coast, and will be working). Have fun!!
Hi Ann, I’m here.
me too!
Hi Dan – so nice to meet you. I believe you will be going to a chat room shortly.
hi Dan! Wonderful book!
Really, really enjoyed your bok, Mr. Chaon (and I hate being scared!). Looking very much forward to hearing more from you tonight!
Oops! That’s “book”, not “bok”. Oh great—a mispell in front of Dan AND Ann!
Ok – this is not working for me. Just like with Denis – it says connecting to server and the icon just spins and spins – nothing happens – absolutely nothing. I’m done.
has the chat started & I can’t find it?
Hi Kim,
So sorry to hear this! I don’y know if this is helpful or not, but it did the same thing to me on one computer, but on another one, it was just fine!
Good luck! We missed you!
Oh man, I’m so sorry Kim. I just had a discussion with my web guy and we are going to be using a completely different format. Several people have told me they couldn’t get on. And it’s just so messy looking. But the new system will be great. Promise
Did the chat work? I couldn’t find it either.
Fabulous chat! Thank you Ann, you are the best for giving us the opportunity, and Dan is such a nice guy.
I copied & pasted the chat into a Word document throughout the whole thing so we could have a transcript. Kim I’ll email it to you right now, & to you Ann. I don’t know if you can copy & paste it into a blog entry or link to it somehow.
I cleaned up all the comings & goings, & the duplicate questions at the end that had already been asked during the first half, but it’s still 12 pages!
Wow, Tracy, you’re the savvy one. Email it to me if you could, please. Thanks.
Just sent it now.
I hope you’re able to post the transcript since I seem to be time-zone impaired tonight. Got my laptop all ready at 8pm only to realize that it’s 8pm in Chicago.
D’OH!
I feel so bad about the earthquake in Haiti — I mean, just awful. Last night I watched a mini Elia Kazan festival on TCM – “Streetcar Named Desire” which is mesmerizing, and then “East of Eden” which made me cry like a baby. I kept thinking today, that I wouldn’t cry tonight — just watch “American Idol” and have a quiet evening.
When I learned the earthquake hit, I knew from the very first reports (7.0 near Port-a-Prince, shaking nearly a minute) that it would be bad, very bad. If you’ve been in a 7.0 or greater earthquake (even in well built areas like San Fran) you know structures will collapse and people will be trapped — for days they will be rescueing and retrieving people and bodies. The aftershocks will be strong and frequent, and basically, the situation will be hell on earth.
I feel so helpless, really. What can I do? I have no money, or resources to aid the victims. I can say a prayer, and I can cry.
Every thing seems so trivial — American Idol? Fuck. . . maybe the crazy auditions will distract me. I really didn’t want to cry tonight, I just can’t help it.
Thanks again Ann for having the live online chat with Dan. I liked the questions you asked him and I agree that it set the tone for the open chat. I missed the last live chat with DL, but from what I’ve read, this one was a lot more tame than that one. I liked the pace of this one.
Thanks again, now off to read and finish his book hopefully by the end of the week.
Ann, Right now the Red Cross is a good bet. They already have a presence in Haiti and as we all know, they deal with a lot of the immediate, emergency needs.
Mary Lynn,
I am crying, too. What made me cry was the audio of people in Haiti—from little kids on up—singing and praying. So I don’t think your prayers (so clearly meant from the heart) are to be discounted, either. ALL goodwill counts in a situation like this—material or spiritual.It is so tragic, but Haiti is going to need help for a long, long time, so I’m sure you’ll get a chance to give materially at some point.
Another thought—and forgive me if I’m waaaaay outta line here—-can you donate blood to the American Red Cross? Not for use in Haiti, of course, but perhaps that will make a difference over here so the Red Cross can do more there….
In the meantime, keep praying and bless your kind heart…
Thank you Ann for the Chat tonight. We had a client over, so I couldn’t participate, but I did sign in on my laptop, perched it in the corner of the studio, and kept an eye on it. Looked like everyone had a great time and Mr. Chaon was very nice. The transcript will be nice, I can fill in the gaps.
Tracy – thank you for sending me the transcript but I cannot open it. Ann – can you post here?
Kim, maybe because it’s in word 2007? I’ll try to copy it to a thumb drive tonight & bring it in to work tomorrow & put it into an older version.
Ann, I tried posting it on a google blogger page just to try, but there was a problem because of html. I don’t know what to do about that.
Oh, I did get the ok from Dan by the way, he emailed me back right away answering my questions (my mind is totally blown now!!!), and he said posting it is fine, just let him know. I guess he’d like to read it. So maybe posting it in parts is the best way.
Tracy – it should not make a difference with Word. Its compatible with any Microsoft Program. Of course, it would not be with Apple programs. Frustrating. Ann – not just because of me personally, obviously there are other parties having difficulty. I even shut down all my security firewalls, virus protection prior to the chat – didn’t work. Yes, – another format would be great.
Tracy: In your email format in “tools” you can change the HTML format to rich or plain text. It might work.
Here is the link to a transcript I made of the chat:
http://docs.google.com/View?id=dc5n2svk_0gwjzdprz
Enjoy!
Mary Lynn, so here’s the thing. You may not have money or resources to aid the victims in Haiti, but you did put your thoughts/feelings/concerns out there on Ann’s blog, which encouraged me to make a donation to the Red Cross a few minutes ago. So, see, you actually have done something!
Thank you Catherine for helping. . . and Lynne, that IS an excellent suggestion. Actually, I don’t weigh 110 lbs (I’m only 5 feet tall) or I would give blood. I hope that anyone who can does, and I will give something to the Red Cross — it won’t be much but if everyone just gave a little, I’m sure it would help a lot.
I feel bad for even talking about earthquakes, and then this horrible one occurring.
I saw “Flying Down to Rio” recently made in 1933, and Dolores Del Rio says to Fred Astaire that maybe they could stop at the Port au Prince airport on their way to Brazil. I thought that odd, as I knew Haiti and Port au Prince was very impoverished and dangerous, and I couldn’t imagine that in 1933 they would have an airport, or be a tourist destination. Maybe Haiti had some glory days . . . Cole Porter wrote “Katie went to Haiti” for DuBarry was a Lady, maybe things weren’t always so bad.
Sigh . . . I’m not going to cry tonight, though I can’t get the awful situation out of my mind.
We really are so lucky to be warm and safe, and on our computers, or reading a book, or watching TV tonight.