Who You Might Be, Leigh N. Gallagher
Who You Might Be, Leigh N. Gallagher
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Who You Might Be
A Novel

Author: Leigh N. Gallagher

Narrator: Aven Shore

Unabridged: 13 hr 16 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/21/2022


Synopsis

A fiercely original debut from Leigh N. Gallagher, Who You Might Be takes readers from 1990s Southern California to a UFOlogist holdout in Nevada, the graffiti playground of Detroit, and a self-important New York art scene in an unflinching examination of how life’s most unexpected turns—and the people we meet along the way—shape who we become.

It’s the late nineties—the dawn of the internet—and Judy and Meghan have lied to their mothers and run away for the weekend, to see a girl they’ve met in a chat room. Meanwhile, twelve-year-old Cassie, desperately clinging to childhood hopes, travels deep into the Nevada desert to reunite with her real mother at a strange and isolated compound. And, across the country, Caleb, an entitled teenager, is miserable following his family’s move from upper-crust San Francisco to boring Ann Arbor—until, emboldened by privilege, his tours of blighted Detroit become graffiti-writing escapades, with his faithful little brother in tow.

Each of these adventures derails in severe, alarming ways, only to resurface and collide two decades later in an unforgettable finale that explores the power—and limits—of the narratives that come to define us. Deftly written and peopled with precisely drawn, indelible characters pushed to great extremes, Who You Might Be considers the ramifications of life’s most trying encounters and the resilience it takes to determine for ourselves who we might be.

A Macmillan Audio production from Holt.

About Leigh N. Gallagher

Leigh N. Gallagher’s work has been published in American Short Fiction, Beloit Fiction Journal, Salt Hill, and the Reading Room anthology, and in non-traditional formats through collaborations with artists and musicians. She holds an MFA from the University of Michigan, and her writing has received support from many organizations, including the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico, the Vermont Studio Center, and Marble House Project. Originally from California, she lives in Philadelphia. Who You Might Be is her first novel.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Kimberly on June 21, 2022

My thanks to Leigh Gallagher, Henry Holt & Co. And Goodreads Giveaway foe an ARC of thus book. This is the author's first novel and, as such, I can feel the work and love that went into it. The work blends past and present for several main characters as their lives intertwine. A couple of characters......more

Goodreads review by Summer on June 12, 2022

The book begins in California in the 1990s when two friends Judy and Meghan run away for a weekend to visit a girl they met in a chat room. But when something unexpected happens, Judy is forced to confront some alarming truths about the many forms danger can take. Next we travel to the Nevada desert......more

Goodreads review by Maren’s Reads on June 26, 2022

Sometimes you come across a book that is just not for you. Unfortunately, for me, this is that book. I love the cover of this one and from the synopsis, I felt sure I was going to like it. A few pages in, I quickly realized that was not the case. The plot line seemed muddied in what the author was a......more

Goodreads review by Paige on July 03, 2023

I received this book as a part of a Goodreads giveaway. I knew almost immediately that this book wasn’t going to be for me. The first two acts set the stage for the third, providing the backstory for the characters at hand. But I just didn’t care about any of it, and to spend 200+ pages on it felt i......more

Goodreads review by Jamie on April 14, 2022

Thank you Netgalley and MacMillan Audio for this advance listener copy in exchange for my honest review. I didn't like this book. I didn't like any aspect of this book. I found it to be boring and the intertwined stories were confusing. It left me with questions that I really didn't want answers to.......more


Quotes

Advance Praise for Who You Might Be
“A mesmerizing, incandescent novel by a writer of seemingly limitless ability. I read it with my heart beating at a different register because I knew I was in the presence of a writer who knows how to match an acrobatic and singular use of language to the density of human complexity. Gallagher enlivens worlds and characters with an observational eye and ear tuned to frequencies most of us don't see and hear.”
—Marisa Silver, author of The Mysteries and Mary Coin

Who You Might Be is a brilliant, splintery coming-of-age novel that perfectly captures the nervous thrum of adolescence and the unnerving fragility of adulthood. Gallagher is so acutely attuned to the lies (and secrets) we tell (and keep from) ourselves and others. A dazzling debut that puts me in mind of Emma Cline and Rachel Kushner.”
—Peter Ho Davies, author of A Lie Someone Told You About Yourself