Heavy rain and thunderstorms continue across southeastern Minnesota Thursday evening.

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

Can one decision be the fulcrum of a life?

Or is destiny really millions of tiny choices swirled with events out of our control? 

That’s one of the many questions at the heart of Eric Puchner’s gorgeous new novel, “Dream State.” It’s received a dizzying amount of praise since it was released in February — making the New York Times best seller list, becoming an Oprah Book Club pick. But despite the buzz, the novel is deceptively hard to pin down. 

Set in rural Montana, the book begins with two college buddies, as one of them, Charlie, prepares to marry the love of his life. But when Cece heads to the family cabin early to prepare for the wedding and meets no-nonsense best friend Garrett, her world wobbles. 

What happens next — amidst a wedding besieged by norovirus — launches the next 50 years, as the three friends remain intertwined by regrets and grief, possibilities and love. 

Puchner joins host Kerri Miller for a wide-ranging conversation on this week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas. Among topics of discussion: why so few authors write about male friendship, why meeting friends from your beloved’s past can be so perilous and why setting “Dream State” in a Montana cabin was so crucial to the plot. 

Subscribe to Big Books and Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller podcast on 

for the latest book and author news and must-read recommendations.

Arts and Culture

The Thread® - Books and Literary News

NewsPartners

Shows

Big Books & Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller

Host

Author

A family epic set in the American West amid an ever-changing world, Eric Puchner’s new novel, “Dream State,” is an Oprah Book Club pick. 

Eric Puchner’s new novel circles around a love triangle that spans a lifetime

Go Deeper.

Like this?