You Remind Me of Me

By: Dan Chaon

Narrated by: Jim Soriero

You Remind Me of Me begins with a series of separate incidents: In 1977, a little boy is savagely attacked by his mother's pet Doberman; in 1997, another little boy disappears from his grandmother's backyard on a sunny summer morning; in 1966, a pregnant teenager admits herself to a maternity home with the intention of giving her child up for adoption; in 1991, a young man drifts toward a career as a drug dealer, even as he hopes for something better.

With penetrating insight and a deep devotion to his characters, Dan Chaon explores the secret connections that irrevocably link them. In the process, he examines questions of identity, fate, and circumstance: Why do we become the people that we become? How do we end up stuck in lives that we never wanted? Can we change the course of what seems inevitable?

In language that is both unflinching and exquisite, Chaon moves deftly between the past and the present in the small-town prairie Midwest and shows us the extraordinary lives of "ordinary" people.

©2004 Blackstone Audio, Inc. (P)2017 Dan Chaon

Very Interesting!

I enjoyed this book.
The story was good but a little confusing at times.
Switching from the past to present and from character to character and trying to discern whether the characters are telling one story but the story they tell might be real or imagined.
The narrator was really good. He sounded a little robotic at first but when you listen to the story you get used to it. It wasn't a problem with me.
I love that the narrator didn't try to change voices for each character.
I hate that!! It's distracting. Men don't sound like women and women don't sound like men! It's not easy for adults to sound like a child
.. Just read the story. We're smart enough to figure out who's saying what in a story.
I recommend 'You Remind Me of Me'
It's deep. It's touching.
It's the kind of book you think about for days after you've finished.
Stick with it and decide what's real and what isn't.

Another great book by Dan Chaon

Chaon is my new favorite contemporary author. So many great things about his novels: gritty, painfully sensitive, suspenseful, they are books about important things. I think this book is a close second to Await Your Reply. Narration is great on both books.

Beautifully Upsetting

A beautiful tale of harsh realities.
Reminds me of Sling Blade and The Butterfly Effect.
Just a little inconclusive,
but that's life.

Should have been narrated by Kirby Heyborne

A few years ago, Kirby Heyborne narrated Dan Chaon's book, Await Your Reply, and I thought it was unique and fantastic. This new book is almost as good, but the narrator is too monotone ... or too "white bread" ... just not as good as Heyborne.

Still worth a listen!

heart-tugging story

“Where do babies go when you give them away”. “They go to live with nice mommies.” Awe, this is the saddest story EVER!! That first sentence was spoken from a little boy to his mother, who constantly says she is sad she gave up her first baby for adoption; in fact, she’s obsessed with this perfect baby she gave up, and she kept the second baby she had…Jonah….always making Jonah feel subpar, inadequate, not like the perfect first baby she gave up.

The story is told in timelines, with chapters that flip between years. In 1977 Jonah is attacked and disfigured by his grandfather’s Doberman pincher when he was a little boy. We learn slowly of Jonah’s sad life, living in squalor. His mother works at a chicken factory, and she is displeased with life, especially Jonah. She gave birth to a baby in 1966, and she is stuck there, thinking if she had kept that baby her life would have been better.

This all takes place in a tiny town in South Dakota. I hail from that area, and his descriptions of the area, the culture, the atmosphere is authentic to the point of depression. Author Dan Chaon capitalizes on the remoteness, the impoverished areas near the Sioux Reservations. This reminded me of everything I hated about the State and why I got out of there ASAP. Now saying that, some have enjoyed a fantastic life there; I didn’t see the beauty. I just saw the sadness, the indigents, the neglected, the oppression. Chaon must have as well, as he put on paper what I saw as reality.

Yes, we learn of the first baby. Chaon decided to create a sad life for him as well, although that kid did bond with a loving family, although flawed. That baby, Troy, has made a series of bad decisions, and his life is messed up because of his own actions.

This is a 5-star novel because of the authenticity it evokes. Yes, I wanted to take to my bed at times because it is so darned sad! It is amazing when a story breaks your heart, and yet you want to keep reading. I was in another world when I was in this book.