Echo Chamber

by Claire Hopple

"Claire Hopple writes like she's planning a bank robbery on acid, only the bank is a hot air balloon, and there's no such thing as money. Part Amelia Gray, part Mary Robison, part love letter to the subconscious, Echo Chamber will steal your identity and leave you profoundly, delightfully awake."
—Kevin Maloney, author of The Red-Headed Pilgrim

“In Echo Chamber, Claire Hopple’s precise, shimmering sentences are on full display as she explores the inner workings of these unforgettable characters. Once I started reading this book, I couldn’t put it down—it’s a refreshing, innovative collection.”
—Chelsea Hodson, author of Tonight I’m Someone Else

“Echo Chamber is a little stinker. A fever dream, it leaves you
disturbed, confused. Maybe even changed.”
—Tyler Dempsey, author of Time as a Sort of Enemy

“Echo Chamber is sharp, wry, wicked fun. Claire Hopple has a light, humorous touch, but there’s no question she means business.”
—Lindsay Lerman, author of I’m From Nowhere and What Are You?

“Claire Hopple is a wildly talented storyteller and chronicler of humanity’s inherent folly. Echo Chamber, her most profound and idiosyncratic work to date, is so full of wit and humor and longing that it reinforces the importance of fiction with the turn of each page. If you haven’t read Hopple’s work yet, rectify that mistake immediately by starting here. If you have, you are once again in for a real treat. Echo Chamber is nothing short of an absolute joy that should be read again and again.”
—Nick Gregorio, author of Launch Me to the Stars, I’m Finished Here

Evoking the black humor of Kurt Vonnegut, Jonathan Lethem’s way of subverting expectations, and a delightful strangeness endemic to a world of her own, Claire Hopple’s work reveals the enchanting, the absurd, the violent, and the sensational. A woman wants to be caught stealing people’s identities, but nobody is paying attention. A suburban father becomes convinced that he’s transformed into a dinosaur-shaped chicken nugget. A hitman’s target collapses before he can be killed. The novella and stories in Echo Chamber reverberate, wild and beautiful.

Genres: Short Stories

85 pages, Paperback

Published February 1, 2023

Reviews

[Babak · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Let the groundhog do the talking.”

[Matthew Binder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each page of this book is filled with incredible imagination and invention. I was equally in love with and terrified of the novella's main character, Gretchen. This is a character capable of tremendous tyranny yet so wonderfully likable. I'm not sure I've met another like her in all of literature. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of this book. You'll be blown away both by its absurdity and tenderness.

[Daniel DiFranco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Danny likey.

Claire Hopple has a singular voice, and I was glad to spend time with it again in this new volume from her. If only she’d write a damn novel…

[Jan Stinchcomb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Claire Hopple has written yet another book that drops the reader into an original and empathetic universe of the absurd.

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

You won’t regret spending your Friday night adventuring with Claire’s mysterious, quirky characters. That’s what I just did and it was delightful!

[Claire Hopple · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ratings and reviews are crucial. Read this book if you want to see a woman take over people’s lives, as in literally steal their identities. She wants to get caught but nobody’s paying attention. Thank you.

[Sheldon Birnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good stuff!

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably my favorite Hopple yet.

[Josh Rank · Rating 5 out of 5]

These stories are bonkers.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Claire Hopple is fast becoming one of my favourite contemporary writers. There’s an absurdist, almost Dadaist flavour to her stories that I absolutely love, and she has such a wonderful flair for capturing the undeniable weirdness of the human experience. This is the second book I’ve read by her, and I’m officially obsessed.

[MM · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal novella and stories! I laughed my way through. I loved rereading sentences for their wit and wordplay. I still can’t get one sentence out of my head, “Groove is in the heart but grief is in the voice.”

[Julian Martinez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Echo Chamber is a madcap collection of tales. Claire Hopple puts sentences together like a scientist studying combustion— words you’ve never seen in sequence before are strung beautifully and enthusiastically. While reading, I was reminded of Disney Channel shows, how pre-teens scope out their quiet-on-the-surface neighborhoods with binoculars and homemade disguises. There’s a deep sense of whimsy as the characters in Echo Chamber approach the cruelties of the world with absurd schemes and tricks. Hopple can make you feel for these characters and relate to them as deftly as she can throw your whole balance of what’s real off. She’s generous with play in her language yet masterful with economy.

[Caroline Hagood · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is inventive and packs a lot of punch. Nothing is what you expect in these pages, and I mean that in the best possible way. This was a very enjoyable read.