Chaon wrote Await Your Reply, which is one of my favorite books. This was my first dip into his short stories, which he is most known for. I now realize that it isn't just Await Your Reply that I love, and Chaon is one of my favorite writers period. 
 This is a wonderful collection. "The Bees" and "Slowly We Open Our Eyes" are as good as it gets, folks. There is a lot of loss and death running throughout, and you'll probably end up tossing these stories around in your mind after putting the book down. Hence, they might cause you to stay awake (got 'em). 
 I took my time with this one as I wanted to savor each story. I'm glad that I did.