This is How It Really Sounds

(Paperback)

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Description

Ranging from the wicked noir Shanghai of 1946, to the echo chambers of Hollywood, to remote, snow-covered mountains, This Is How it Really Sounds follows three men, each in search of a different life. Small-town Alaskan "Harry" Harrington is a legend in a small circle, once the world's greatest extreme skier, racing avalanches and knocking back flips off of cliffs. Peter Harrington is a world-famous financier, hated across the globe for making hundreds of millions of dollars on his hedge fund, and fleeing New York to begin a new venture in Shanghai. Finally, there is Pete Harrington, a middle-aged rock star, now touring third-tier venues and fleeing bankruptcy, but hoping that one great new song can rescue him. All are seeking something that has slipped away - youth, power, purpose, magic; all are wonderful creations, whose strangely familiar lives and dreams become unforgettable. Mingling wickedly-funny satire with heart-stopping adventure, This is How it Really Sounds explores the seductive power of the unlived life, and what happens when you finally grasp it.

Reviews

"This is How it Really Sounds is a smart, wide-ranging novel about three guys with the same name--a once-famous skier, a washed-up rock star and a disgraced financier--whose lives intersect in a viral video. Stuart Archer Cohen has written a timely and provocative story about money, cultural power, and identity in the digital age." --Tom Perrotta, author of The Leftovers

"Nothing is quite as it seems in this prismatic thriller of finance-sector greed and client payback, which moves easily from California to China to Alaska, from past to present, from one view of the story to another. This is How it Really Sounds made me forget everything but the need to keep reading. Addictive, highly original, and deeply satisfying." --Nicole Mones, author of Night in Shanghai and The Last Chinese Chef

"An impressive and dramatic novel about three men who share a surname and intertwining fortunes... Anyone who's bet his or her future on Wall Street, strapped on a pair of skis or savored a well-told story will want to read this one." --Kirkus Reviews (starred)

"This book was perfect for someone like me who is just beginning to experience the "crises" of mid-life. I love each character and all are distinctive yet somehow identifiable with aspects of ourselves. I laughed out loud at the misadventures and startling revelations that our heroes faced. This was an "I can't put it down until it's finished" novel, and will be at the top of my Spring/Summer recommended reads." --Scott DeMarco, Booksellers on Fountain Square

"A hugely entertaining story." --Booklist

"Cohen is skilled at both astute observation...as well as focusing on the individual in order to bring in a sense of the broad. Combined with a sense of adventure, and readers are in for a fast-paced, entertaining and timely read." --Asian Review of Books

"From the very beginning... you know you are entering a rare world-one told by an expert storyteller." --Anchorage Press

"Cohen delivers a smart, highly original story, with an ending that will surprise and puzzle in the best of ways." --Alaska Dispatch News

"Profound and sublime, reminding me a bit of David Mitchell . . . and his masterpiece Cloud Atlas." --Paul Woodford, Daily Kos

Author Bio

Stuart Archer Cohen lives in Juneau, Alaska with his wife and two children. Two of his previous novels, Invisible World and 17 Stone Angels, have been translated into ten languages; a third, The Army of the Republic, has been optioned for film by Oliver Stone. Cohen has travelled extensively, and owns an international textile company called Invisible World, which trades wool, silk, alpaca and cashmere from China and South America.