One of Us - by Dan Chaon (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"A captivating new novel... As One of Us gleefully samples multiple registers -- comic, tragic, satiric, elegiac, poetic -- its mesh of archaic and contemporary styles becomes something quite arresting, a joy to read."
--Hamilton Cain, The New York Times

A playfully macabre and utterly thrilling tale about orphaned twins on the run from their murderous uncle who find refuge in a bizarre traveling carnival, from master of literary horror Dan Chaon

It's 1915 and the world is transforming, but for thirteen-year-old Bolt and Eleanor--twins so close they can literally read each other's minds--life is falling apart. When their mother dies, they are forced to leave home under the care of a vicious con man who claims to be their long-lost uncle Charlie, the only kin they have left. During a late-night poker game, when one of his rages ends in murder, they decide to flee.

Salvation arrives in the form of Mr. Jengling, founder of the Emporium of Wonders and father to its many members. He adopts Bolt and Eleanor, who travel by train across the vast, sometimes brutal American frontier with their new family, watching as the exhibitions spark amazement wherever they go. There's Minnie, the three-legged lady, and Dr. Chui, who stands over seven feet tall; Thistle Britches, the clown with no nose, and Rosalie, who can foretell the death of anyone she meets.

After a lifetime of having only each other, Eleanor and Bolt are finally part of something bigger. But as Bolt falls in deeper with their new clan, he finds Eleanor pulling further away from him. And when Uncle Charlie picks up their trail, the twins find themselves facing a peril as strange as it is terrifying, one which will forever alter the trajectory of their lives. An ode to the misfits and the marginalized, One of Us is a riotous and singularly creepy celebration of the strange and the spectacular and of family in its many forms.

Review Quotes

"A captivating new novel... As One of Us gleefully samples multiple registers -- comic, tragic, satiric, elegiac, poetic -- its mesh of archaic and contemporary styles becomes something quite arresting, a joy to read."
--The New York Times

"Chaon's writing evokes the surreality of its setting, but the novel is also an affecting story about the nature of acceptance."
--Los Angeles Times

"One of Us triumphs... a compelling, bloodcurdling, often funny delight."
--Wall Street Journal

"Only in Dan Chaon's hands does a rollicking tale of a traveling sideshow carnival, serial killer, and psychic orphaned twins become a complex, soaring elegy for an America that never was and never will be. One of Us is a brilliant novel and a beating heart in the darkness."
--Paul Tremblay, New York Times bestselling author of Horror Movie and A Head Full of Ghosts

"One of Us is an immersive, thrilling, and wonderfully twisted funhouse mirror of a novel. Dan Chaon builds a reality just familiar enough to lure you in--then distorts it in the most unsettling, exhilarating ways. I couldn't look away."
--Danielle Trussoni, New York Times bestselling author of The Puzzle Box

"I've run off to join the circus, Ma! It's Dan Chaon's. And I don't ever want to leave."
--Stephen Graham Jones, New York Times bestselling author of The Buffalo Hunter Hunter

"Like all of Chaon's work, One of Us acknowledges the dark forces that challenge the goodness in his characters. That's why his books are so gripping: Good and evil are in constant battle and it's not at all clear which will win."
--The Minnesota Star Tribune

"Chaon dazzles with his vision of family, strangeness, and the tension between care and exploitation. This captivating adventure is not to be missed."
--Publishers Weekly (starred)

"Chaon has also delivered a sharp thriller ... Set mainly in 1915, the novel captures a vanished vaudeville world that Chaon resurrects in thoughtful detail, down to the era's slang (ziggety, conflustered, woofits). But in its latter chapters, the novel is also powerfully otherworldly, deliberately warping assumptions about life, death, and the nature of souls.... A magic trick: A novel that's both deeply unsettling and tenderhearted."
--Kirkus (starred)

About the Author

Dan Chaon is the author of several books, including Ill Will, a national bestseller that was named one of the ten best books of the year by Publishers Weekly. Other works include the short story collection Stay Awake, a finalist for the Story Prize; the national bestseller Await Your Reply; and Among the Missing, a finalist for the National Book Award. Chaon's fiction has appeared in the Best American Short Stories, the Pushcart Prize Anthologies, and the O. Henry Collection. He has been a finalist for the National Magazine Award in Fiction and the Shirley Jackson Award, and he was the recipient of an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature. Chaon lives in Cleveland.