Dream State: Oprah's Book Club

A Novel

De: Eric Puchner

Narrado por: MacLeod Andrews

2025 Oprah’s Book Club Pick

New York Times Bestseller

“Fresh, wise, funny, and compassionate…Cinematic from the outset, Dream State opens (just as if a circular lens were unscrewing) upon a beloved old family homestead, site of a doomed wedding—descriptions so warm and attentive, a reader can’t help falling in headfirst…a wonderful feast, and feat.”
—The Boston Globe

“A transporting wonder…Puchner’s final chapter is one of the most touching and satisfying I’ve read in years.”
—Ron Charles, The Washington Post

“Dream State is a novel you should read… Puchner writes about families and relationships as well as any writer I can think of… a powerful reading experience.
—Chicago Tribune

"For a big, immersive American saga, deeply pleasurable yet tinged with melancholy, you could do no better than Dream State." —The Guardian's Best Fiction of 2025

Cece is in love. She has arrived early at her future in-laws’ lake house in Salish, Montana, to finish planning her wedding to Charlie, a young doctor with a brilliant life ahead of him. Charlie has asked Garrett, his best friend from college, to officiate the ceremony, though Cece can’t imagine anyone more ill-suited for the task—an airport baggage handler haunted by a tragedy from his and Charlie’s shared past. But as Cece spends time with Garrett, his gruff mask slips, and she grows increasingly uncertain about her future. And why does Garrett, after meeting Cece, begin to feel, well, human again? As a contagious stomach flu threatens to scuttle the wedding, and Charlie and Garrett’s friendship is put to the ultimate test, Cece must decide between the life she’s dreamed of and a life she’s never imagined.

The events of that summer have long-lasting repercussions, not only on the three friends caught in its shadow but also on their children, who struggle to escape their parents’ story. Spanning fifty years and set against the backdrop of a rapidly warming Montana, Dream State explores what it means to live with the mistakes of the past—both our own and the ones we’ve inherited.

Written with humor, precision, and enormous heart, both a love letter and an elegy to the American West, Dream State is a thrillingly ambitious ode to the power of friendship, the weird weather of marriage, and the beauty of impermanence.

The authenticity

The intimate descriptions of life events that reminded me of moments I had forgotten or feared to remember

Puzzled

I am not sure what to say about this book. I had wanted to love it. I recently finished "Beartooth", another book set in Montana that I had enjoyed very much. I had hoped "Dream State" would be as satisfying. But the first half reads like a story proposal for a Hallmark Movie Channel special. The second descends into some eco-nihilistic dystopia. Neither works well. Perhaps it was just too much for one novel. But the last chapter changed my opinion, at least a bit. I'm not sure if one can call it a surprise ending but that chapter turned the plot completely around. This may not be everyone's idea of a good read/listen. I'm not sure if it is mine! But I am glad I gave it a try, if only for the unexpected ending.

A Big Undertaking

The complexity of the story evolves with several characters and their intertwined lives over decades. We hear of their frolics and follies, often from dream states. The approach requires deep concentration to follow as the author scatters so many seeds of emotion that it feels one has read several novels.

The story was so well written, I felt like I really knew the characters.

Loved the detailed descriptions, even really gross details. The author has a great way with explanations.

Exquisite story of love, aging, and climate change

The author draws a powerful portrait of young friendship and love, and follows these very interesting characters through life into old age. Young readers may give this book a low rating. Who wants to face aging and loss? No one! But I wonder if the age of the reader may explain the super high and super low ratings. As an older reader myself, I found the book compelling, exquisite, and difficult. The grief of aging is magnified by the parallel losses of global climate change, the loss of forests, wildlife, and habitat through wildfires. In deed, anyone can feel this grief, the places where apple and cherry orchards used to be, the bird song and butterflies that used to embroider the summer air, the glaciers that don’t exist anymore. This is well written book with a fantastic narrative arc. It would be a great book group choice, particularly for more mature audiences. Definitely worth a listen.