Margins
Fitting Ends book cover
Fitting Ends
1995
First Published
3.91
Average Rating
272
Number of Pages

Fitting Ends is the first collection of fiction by the acclaimed author of the National Book Award finalist Among the Missing and now appears in this newly revised edition with two never before collected stories. Written before Among the Missing and originally published by Northwestern University Press, Fitting Ends features thirteen stories detailing the almost panicked angst of the American generation now approaching thirty. Struggling with gaps between youthful expectations and adult experiences, these characters long for understanding and acceptance—but are thwarted by failed love, family disruptions, numbing work, and sexual confusion. Chaon is one of the most promising new voices in fiction, and this re-issued collection offers further evidence of his unique talent. “The best of these stories . . . possess a rare, disorienting force. When you look up from them, the quality of light seems a little different. It’s a reminder to those of us who have almost forgotten what literature can sometimes do.” —Boston Book Review “The most honest, observant and timely book written this year about the American generation now approaching thirty . . . Chaon speaks with clarity of feeling, and more than a little oddball wit, about the lives of those left behind the demographic curve of America—men and woman with pointless jobs, doughy faces, soured relationships, bad credit... Each story pulls you into its subtle emotional vortex, largely because of Chaon’s knack for simple but poignant detail.” —New York Newsday “Remarkable . . . Each story is a marvel of complexity, dense with meaning and nuance... Very few first works are as solid, moving, and pitch-perfect as Chaon’s.” —The Cleveland Plain Dealer “[AN] OFTEN PERCEPTIVE, LUCID VOICE.” —The New York Times Book Review

Avg Rating
3.91
Number of Ratings
490
5 STARS
30%
4 STARS
39%
3 STARS
24%
2 STARS
5%
1 STARS
2%
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Author

Dan Chaon
Dan Chaon
Author · 15 books
Dan Chaon is 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. Chaon’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. Chaon lives in Cleveland, Ohio, and teaches at Oberlin College, where he is the Pauline M. Delaney Professor of Creative Writing. His new novel, Await Your Reply, will be published in late August 2009.
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