The TL;DR version of my review would be very easy to write. It goes as follows: Sleepwalk will make you sleepwalk from how boring it is.

Will Bear/Barely Blur/Billy, etc is a guy who's kind of like a hit man sort of but not really but he has a lot of cellphones that are used for the work he does and each one is tied to each of his aliases and he has a dog that he rescued from dog fighting at some point and also he sometimes he microdoses LSD but only at the beginning and mostly it's just to mention it and then one day he gets a call on one of his phones and then another call on a different phone and he has some lady friend named Experanza who criticizes him a lot and then he picks up one of the phones and the person on the other end says she's his daughter.

From there, we have tons of inner monologuing and story time from Will about his past and what he's feeling and thinking about and if the person he's talking to is actually his daughter because he was a sperm donor for some reason even though his job is top secret kind of so that doesn't really make sense and also randomly at some point we learn that Experanza is a notary public which also doesn't make sense when it's told they're all basically working for some organization that's like some John Wick type story and layout but without the action.

It sounds interesting out of context but somehow Dan Chaon masterfully makes it one of the most dull stories ever. I can't tell you the amount of times I nodded off or fell asleep reading just a few pages. I think a lot of it comes down to the prose and Chaon's attempt to make everything sound so crazy and quirky. It gets extremely tiresome, no pun intended.

The moments where it's obvious the reader should be getting emotional fall flat because there's nothing to latch on to. I get trying to show the natural bond a father feels for their child, even if they don't know them, but without any meaningful interaction between the two minus talks over the phone, it never feels earned.

At the end of the day, I think this book really isn't for me. However, I could see it working for a 15-year old that thinks this type of story and character is just super cool having never read a book before and only ever watched D-Tier comedies with a sprinkle of action and drama mixed in.

Thank you to Henry Holt & Company and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

A surreal odyssey through the American heartland, featuring a micro-dosing and melancholy mercenary whose past is catching up to his peripatetic present as he travels through a slightly familiar, dystopian landscape with some touches of Philip K. Dick.

Admittedly, this won't novel to everyone's taste. I think it's much too dark and surreal---never mind the parts with the ape, yikes!---and open-ended, but I mean that in the most complimentary sense. Who knows, though? This is a slight departure for Chaon, as this novel is less understated than, say, You Remind Me of Me. But it possesses that trademark Chaon gravitas (the Chaonness) and world-wariness. No matter how outlandish, Sleepwalk retains its deeply flawed, human heart.

It's been a few months since I read this book, and it still lingers in my mind. Haunting.

I love Dan Chaon's writing. This was one of his best books. I loved the main character. He was very easy to like, even though he came from a shady background. This book is highly recommended.

This was my first Dan Chaon book. I was drawn to it based solely on the synopsis: A man living off the grid in a near dystopian future who discovers he has a biological child from a sperm donation years ago. Dan has a unique way of telling a story, you could say it is very odd, yet catchy. There is something about it that draws you into the novel. I did start off slow for me but ended up redeeming itself in the end. Barely Blur has lived half his life off the grid as a henchman in an apocalyptic future. He is used to doing things solo, with his trusty companion Flip, a dog he rescued. His life gets turned upside down when a young woman finds him and claims she is his biological daughter from a sperm donation years ago. This revelation starts an intense game of cat & mouse game that is intense. And it brings up the ramifications of our past decisions and how we cannot runaway from our problems. This book has lots of dark humor and deals with what I would consider eugenics. I found it a unique story and plan to check out Dan’s other books in the future.

I always look forward to a book by Dan Chaon, he is a brilliant writer. His writing, once again, is brilliant and filled with wonderful characters. A story of dual time lines between past and present.
A psychological thriller that is a bit dark at times and hard to read due to some abuse and other graphic nature. It is a strangely odd yet interesting cat and mouse kind of read.

Neat story with an unreliable narrator talking to other characters who are also unreliable. It ranges all over the country and and there are good twists, and surprises. Not a lot of action, but the story flows well.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher, Henry Holt & Company, for the chance to read this one in advance.

I love the way that this entire book - narrative, setting, and characters - is off-kilter and not completely knowable without a full investment in it.

You only very gradually get to know what kind of a world the main character - who goes by any number of aliases - is living in. You get the sense very early on that it's not in the present but that it's not so very far in the very as to be completely speculative and science fiction-y. It's post-apocalyptic in a not entirely apocalyptic way. It just keeps you guessing throughout just how different things are, occasionally blithely dropping in a comment about a beloved national monument no longer existing.

The main character is similarly ambiguous. Is he a good guy? Is he a bad guy? Does it matter because he's such an engaging and likeable individual. It really plays with your standards and expectations - how could you possibly sympathize or even empathize with this character, especially the further you progress in the book and the more you know that he's done.

The cast of supporting characters in fantastic, including the animal ones - his dog Flip and a smart chimp - with some fleshed out more than others but all well balanced.

Is he living in a massive conspiracy theory or is the conspiracy theory his reality?

It's funny, it's tragic, it's right on the nose with some of the politics, religion, technology, and cultural battles raging currently and plays out a potential future based on those.

Did I love it? Right on ...

A very solid and enjoyable tale. This one kept me engaged, and it's well constructed. Chaon is an experienced author and shows his skill here. Recommended to thriller fans.

I really appreciate the free ARC for review!!

I first discovered Chaon ages ago, most likely due to his immediately proximity to the ever so excellent Chabon on the library shelves. Two very different authors, but both absolutely terrific. I loved Chaon’s books and binged out. And was very excited to get my grabby mitts on his latest through Netgalley.
The thing is, thought I knew what to expect and Chaon totally subverted all my expectations in the most awesome way. Instead of the heavyhitting slice of life dramas, he pivoted to produce this thoroughly excellent kinda sorta apocalyptic paranoid off grid adventure.
Mind you, there’s still plenty of drama. The main plot is technically dramatic at its base…a lone traveler (not just through the winding roads, but through life itself) finds out he might have a daughter and that she might be just one of the many offspring he’s got from his days of donating sperm.
But that’s too reductive of a description, too insufficient for the sheer wealth and splendor of the tapestry Chaon has woven with this book. There’s his spellbinding world building of the eerily plausible near future America, there’s the fascinating cast of characters that his multi aliased protagonist has to deal with, the past he is driving away from with every mile, the increasingly unreasonable and dangerous present, the uncertain future. The conspiracies, the twists, the ever so awesome doggo companion.
It’s such a terrifically texturized book, never a flat map, always a topographical one, of all of Will’s travels on and off road. And it’s such a pleasure to read.
There’s still all the emotional realism and engaging immediacy one might have come to associate with the author, but it’s playing out on a much larger, more intricately composed field. It’s a great book, it’s got all the things one looks for in a great book, outside even of the peculiar yet undeiniable multilayered charm of its protagonist. A perfectly immersive reading experience. The book you don’t want to put down, think about it when you have to, can’t wait to get back to. You know, that one.
I make my way through a lot of books. Tons, really. And Sleepwalk stood out easily as the best book I’ve had the pleasure to read in ages. Grab your bags, your best off grid gear, you're going to want to take this road trip. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

Sleepwalk is a very very interesting story about an oblivious older mercenary set in a near dystopian-ish future as he takes a long road trip searching for his newly learnt about daughter. His daughter claims to be trying to protect him, while the people who are using him as their mercenary are trying to convince him that he’s having a psychotic break and she’s not real.

I really liked our main character. His abrupt honesty even when he’s doing something inherently dishonest is jarring, but funny.

I initially really liked this story! I was hooked from the first page, but unfortunately, that started to wane once I got half-way through. A lot of the book is him just traveling and thinking. I do feel like there were scenes that should have been cut out just to keep the reader interested and not bored.

There are a LOT of content warnings for this book, so please be aware going in.

tw: homocide, graphic depictions of violence, recreational drug use, drug abuse, incest, black market infant selling, technically legal age gap but still not appropriate, references to animal death, homophobic language, bestiality

18+

I really loved mostly everything about this book. The storytelling was superb, the characters interesting, the writing easy to read. There were some uncomfortable passages dealing with animal abuse and such, they read gritty but real and packed a punch. Overall this is quite the madcap adventure story. Reminded me a bit of CD Payne’s Youth In Revolt only with a 50 year old main character.

Honestly I would love to see this adapted as a miniseries or something. A highly recommended read, but it may not be to everyone’s tastes.

Sleepwalk: A Novel by Dan Chaon
Release date: April 5, 2022
Review date: August 28, 2021
Henry Holt and Company

“…the heart takes what joy it can, doesn’t it?”

I love this book. The main character, Will Bear (one of his many aliases), is a lovable, fifty-year-old mercenary traveling around the country in his beloved camper, Guiding Star, moving from shady job to shady job (“…a traveling agent on retainer”) in the dystopian future. His only companion is a rescue Pitbull named Flip.
Will has a bucket of throw-away burner phones with numbers no one should have. But, one starts to ring. It is a young girl (about 20 years old) who claims that he is her sperm donor “father.” How she got these telephone numbers is a mystery, but they begin to strike up conversations at all times of the night and day. Her name is Cammie and she tells him he has 167 other diplings (children of a sperm donor, egg donor, and a rented uterus). Will thinks she may be crazy, but he keeps talking to her when she calls. Will’s long-time friend, Experanza, suggests that he kill the girl because she may not be who she says she is and she may be dangerous to his life off the grid; which is essential to his work. But, as the miles go by, the talks become more frequent, more personal, and Will begins to look forward to them. He starts to believe that he could be her father; after all he made plenty of donations at the sperm bank back in the day.

Will meets with the boss of the organization, Value Standard Enterprises, Tim Ribbons and Mr. Ribbins explains that they believe Will is being hacked by some AI avatar. Ribbons says, “They have these AIs now that can analyze your vocabulary and mood and tone and translate it into an algorithm and then reflect it back to you, so you feel a subconscious connection to them.” Ribbons suggests that he visit the hackers in Chicago and kill the girl. So, now what does he do? Stay loyal to Value Standard Enterprises? Find out if the girl is really his daughter? Hideout somewhere? It’s a conundrum.

The book is fast-paced and filled with quirky characters, which I love. Bear is a fully developed character; we learn of his flaws, his greatness, and his potential. Wigginton (2015) wrote that “The sleepwalker represented the hidden potential within the self for either greatness or deviance, or, more mundanely, simply a fuller existence than consciousness has an awareness of.”* I feel this quote describes Bear to a T. Read it, you’ll love it.

Right on.

*Wigginton, Rebecca (2015).Twilight States: Sleepwalking, Liminal Consciousness, and Sensational Selfhood in Victorian Literature and Culture. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh. (Unpublished.)

I received a free e-copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This review will be posted on NetGalley and Goodreads. #NetGalley #sleepwalk #danchaon #henryholt #goodreads @lindasversion on Instagram

What I enjoyed about this book was how well the story flowed. The author did a great job at being descriptive, yet there were points of humor during conversations and thoughts between characters. I really got a great feel for the narrators thoughts, feelings, ideas, and in everything he sees and is going through. There’s nothing lacking in the way Dan Choan can tell a story! The only con is that this particular story just wasn’t one that I would choose to read again. Not due to the writing but more due to the type of story it was. At times it felt kinda trippy and just not my kind of book.

Darkly comical, unique and thrilling, Sleepwalk by Dan Charon uses an amazing protagonist to spin a perfectly different tale of a father/daughter relationship, but only this time the father is an eclectic Mercenary/Fixer.

Once the monkey slips a mickey to the protagonist and the latter makes a Steve McQueen mini-great-escape on a Segway, Dan Chaon’s “Sleepwalk” definitively puts the proverbial pedal to the metal, lighting out for where the buses don’t run. And that is no criticism; on the contrary, this heartwarming satirical thriller set in a near-future America brims over with memorable moments as first-person narrator Will Bear (one of many aliases) relates his compelling story. True to his name, Will is a bear of a man, a very laidback 50-year-old mercenary who travels the country in his RV named “Guiding Star” with his rescue pit bull Flip, doing odd jobs for a shadowy corporation that range from meddling with a local school board election to, well, murder. Will’s life is on autopilot—driving where he’s told, downing his steadying morning micro-dose of LSD, responding to most people’s remarks with his standard noncommittal “right on,” and occasionally crying for “emotional hygiene reasons.” But his sleepwalking world is upended when he receives a mysterious call from a young woman claiming to be his sperm donor daughter. In his earlier novels—“You Remind Me of Me” (2004), “Await Your Reply” (2009), and “Ill Will” (2017)—Chaon interwove multiple narratives that featured penetrating character studies, psychological suspense, and literary thriller elements. Despite its semi-otherworldly nature—climate change, pandemics, martial law, info-mining giant robot drones that walk the highways (creating a vibe that falls somewhere between nanny state and Orwell)—“Sleepwalk” presents a more streamlined tale, alternating between Will’s present (mis)adventures and his deeply troubled past with a darkly comic abusive mother. “Sleepwalk” is weird and wonderful, pulling readers into its madcap conspiracy plot with a touching father-daughter relationship that will force Will out of his comfort zone and into becoming an active participant in his own life. And who can resist a scene featuring a plush toy rabbit and a farmer named McGregor? Highly recommended. (Thanks to NetGalley for providing a digital review copy)

Unique and interesting story. The main character was sympathetic, but the story was dark. Still loved it.

Had to go “outside the box” to read/enjoy/understand this book since that’s where the main character lived in his own special world. Good book if your looking for something a little different.

This was a quite interesting read. I had a hard time deciding whether to give this book a one star or a five star rating. A very different read from the books I usually read and review. Different, interesting, at times somewhat bizarre. Five won out. Read it and enjoy.