Ranging from the wicked noir Shanghai of 1946, to the echo chambers of Hollywood, to remote, snow-covered mountains, Stuart Archer Cohen's 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.
"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."
