Those who found the work of Dan Chaon through his stunning 2009 novel Await Your Reply, or its 2004 predecessor You Remind Me of Me, might not be aware that he first attained renown for his short stories, such as those included in the 2001 collection Among the Missing, a finalist for a National Book Award.
Now Chaon, a resident of Cleveland Heights, returns to the short-story form with Stay Awake, a dozen tales about people who move between consciousness and wakefulness, and for whom insomnia is a gift because their dreams are filled with cold fear.
In the first story, The Bees, a reformed drunk trying to salvage his life is haunted by the family he abandoned. I Wake Up is the story of a man who has reconnected with his sister years after they were adopted by different families; the reason for the adoption is hinted at, and it’s not pretty. In The Farm, The Gold, The Lily-White Hands, an uneventful description of a man referred to as “Daddy” as he goes through his day comes to a horrifying halt as we learn what Daddy will do next.
The stories are not linked, except that a startling number of characters are killed in car accidents, and almost as many commit suicide. Stay Awake (272 pages, hardcover) costs $25 from Ballantine. Chaon will discuss and sign his book at 7 p.m. Thursday at Barnes & Noble, 198 Crocker Park Blvd., Westlake.
Mom’s love focus of story
The moon is very far away. When you’re little, it seems that nothing else can be so far away as the moon. So the title of Stow resident Melissa Ivey Staehli’s picture book I Love You to the Moon encompasses the magnitude of a mother’s love, which the simple words liken to the depth of the ocean and the brightness of the sun. The incandescent watercolor and pastel illustrations are by Beacon Journal artist Rick Steinhauser of Stow.
I Love You to the Moon (28 pages, softcover) costs $11.95 from online retailers; a couple of dollars more for a sturdy board cover would have been well worth the money for a book that will be cherished and read many times. Staehli will sign her book from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday at Berean Christian Bookstore, 143 Rothrock Road.
Book gives tribute to Joe Tait
Joe Tait is in the Basketball Hall of Fame for his media work, and a banner bearing his name hangs from the rafters of Quicken Loans Arena next to those of retired Cavaliers greats, but the more affecting tributes come from devoted fans who contributed stories to Joe Tait: It’s Been a Real Ball, which the retired broadcaster wrote with Plain Dealer sports columnist Terry Pluto.
In the book’s introduction, Pluto explains that Tait “hated” the idea of writing in the first person, so the “I” whose voice occasionally appears is Pluto’s. He tells a little of Tait’s early life, including his love of railroads, and jobs at half a dozen radio stations after his Army service.
He arrived in Cleveland for the Cavs’ initial season in 1970, and his name has been linked with the team since then. Having called more than 3,000 games, he retired at the end of the 2011 season, but continues to do play-by-play for Mount Union football games.
Fans who write of listening to Tait when they were children, of tuning in WWWE radio from as far away as Florida, of listening to him during the “Miracle of Richfield” 1975-76 season when most games were not televised, give a true sense of what Tait’s voice and talents have meant to Northeast Ohio sports fans. One man who grew up fatherless tells of how he would listen to Tait’s Indians and Cavs broadcasts and realized that Tait was “the closest thing to a father figure” he ever had.
Joe Tait (259 pages, softcover) costs $15.95 from Gray & Co. Terry Pluto will talk about the book at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library, 3512 Darrow Road, Stow. Registration requested; call 330-688-3295.
Events
Hudson Library & Historical Society (96 Library St.) — Regina Brett appears at a reception and signs her book Be the Miracle: 50 Lessons for Making the Impossible Possible, 2 p.m. today.
Cuyahoga County Public Library (Strongsville branch, 18700 Westwood Drive) — Dr. Robert Needham, editor of the latest release of Dr. Spock’s Baby and Child Care and a pediatrician at MetroHealth Medical Center, discusses parenting and signs his book, 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday. Registration required; call 440-238-5530.
Visible Voice Books (1023 Kenilworth Avenue, Cleveland) — Regina Brett signs Be the Miracle, 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday; an optional wine tasting to benefit The Gathering Place is $15.
Learned Owl Book Shop (204 N. Main St., Hudson) — Bob Yanega reads from and signs his children’s book The Littlest Lamppost, 11 a.m; psychologist Sandra Pollino, who earned a master’s degree in counseling from the University of Akron and is founder of the Coaching for Fear of Flying Program, answers questions and signs Flying Fear Free: 7 Steps to Relieving Air Travel Anxiety, 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday.
Dusty’s Landing (4761 Dusty’s Road, Akron) — Author Carolyn Vogenitz will sign her pictorial history book Portage Lakes, 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday.
— Barbara McIntyre
Special to the Beacon Journal
Send information about books of local interest to Lynne Sherwin, Features Department, Akron Beacon Journal, P.O. Box 640, Akron, OH 44309 or lsherwin@thebeaconjournal.com. Event notices should be sent at least two weeks in advance.
