Dream State

A love triangle. A family story.
A book about the magnetic pull of friendship.

Cece is in love. She has arrived early at her in-laws' beautiful lake house in Salish, Montana, to finish planning her wedding to Charlie, a cardiac anaesthesiologist with a brilliant future.

When Charlie asks Garrett, his best friend from college, to officiate the ceremony, Cece can't imagine anyone less appropriate for the task. After all, Garrett, a depressed baggage handler at the local airport, doesn't believe in marriage. But as she spends time with him and his gruff mask slips, she grows increasingly uncertain about her future, leading to an impulsive decision that will alter the three friends' lives forever - the events of that summer reverberating across fifty years and spanning generations.

Simultaneously following in the tradition of the great American novel and reinventing it from within, Dream State is at once an elegy to the endangered West, a study of the unholy catastrophe of marriage and a tender ode to the enduring beauty of friendship.

Review

A family history that feels monumental . . . The book's effect is hypnotically telescopic, a vision of people we come to know across decades. Puchner's manipulation of time is among his novel's most magical elements . . . We book reviewers don't get to say much about endings, but Puchner's final chapter is one of the most touching and satisfying I've read in years. I see you teetering there between choosing to read Dream State or not. Jump in -- Ron Charles ― Washington Post

A fresh spin on the [marriage] plot . . . A thoughtful meditation on the seismic impact of small decisions on human and earthly conditions. It couldn't be more timely ― New York Times

Fresh, wise, funny, and compassionate . . . Cinematic from the outset, Dream State opens (just as if a circular lens were unscrewing) upon a beloved old family homestead, site of a doomed wedding - descriptions so warm and attentive, a reader can't help falling in head first . . . Dream State is a wonderful feast, and feat ― Boston Globe

Reports of the death of the Great American Novel have been vastly overstated . . . a decade-spanning epic that's already getting publishers excited is Eric Puchner's Dream State. It's set in Montana and traces how the events of one summer shape the lives of three friends and their children, who are vying to escape from their parents' legacies -- The best books to look out for in 2025 ― Independent

Masterfully built ― Financial Times

A brilliant, sprawling epic as funny as it is devastating, Dream State unspools the aftermath of that summer over many years. I haven't been this dazzled by a novel in a long time -- Most anticipated books of 2025 ― Literary Hub

A gorgeous, gripping epic that chronicles 50 years of change in friendships, families and the surrounding landscape. It's being hailed by some as the next great American novel -- 40 of the most exciting books to read in 2025 ― BBC.com

I loved Dream State - I did not stop reading it for three days straight. Puchner's depiction of passing time, of friendship and family, of the mistakes we make and the complicated joys that life brings, is astounding. This is a story of layers and richness rarely seen, and I urge you to read it. -- Jessie Burton, author of THE HOUSE OF FORTUNE and THE MINIATURIST

A totally involving and moving literary page-turner about the lifelong reverberations from an act of betrayal -- Clare Chambers, author of SMALL PLEASURES

A moving, psychologically acute, formally surprising family saga . . . Sprawling and elegant-a novel that feels both old-fashioned and bracingly inventive ― Kirkus

With interwoven perspectives, Puchner's layered saga is a deeply felt exploration of relationships and self-identity, and the imperfections hidden by the heart's pull -- Starred review ― Booklist

About the Author

Eric Puchner is the author of the novel Model Home, a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award and winner of a California Book Award, and two collections of short stories. He has received an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and is an associate professor in the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University. He lives in Baltimore with his family.