“A smart, wide-ranging novel . . . a timely and provocative story about money, cultural power, and identity in the digital age.” —Tom Perrotta, author of The Leftovers

In the lurid nightclubs of modern Shanghai, infamous expat financier Peter Harrington is suddenly confronted by his past. Investors he has ruined, looming federal investigations, and a remote but alluring woman all converge on one hallucinatory night that ends in the labyrinth of an ancient Chinese garden. On the other side of the ocean, chasing the last vapors and diminishing sexual returns of fame in Los Angeles, faded rock star Pete Harrington is bankrupt. With no band, no hits, and no money, he finds a last flash of brilliance that sets him on an absurd and epic quest for revenge. And in a small town in Alaska, legendary extreme skier Harry Harrington lives far from the fame that had courted him—but still yearns for one more dangerous run on a remote, unconquered slope.

Stuart Archer Cohen's This Is How It Really Sounds explores the seductive power of the Other Life—the life you once lived or still dream of living—and what happens when you finally grasp it.