Friday, November 2, 2007

Author to Read: Michael Chabon


I have no idea when Michael Chabon does life and when he writes. He is very prolific and much like Grady Tripp, the main character in his "Wonder Boys," he seems to write because he 'cannot stop.'

But what a brilliant writer this 43-year-old author is!

His recent The Yiddish Policemen's Union is yet another success. It is amazing to me how one single person can possess the imagination of ten good writers, but that is the idiosyncratic beauty of Chabon. From vivid language use to complex story lines and healthy historic references, this author can do anything but disappoint.

Other works by Chabon include:

The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, which incidentally his grad adviser submitted for publication for him and which made him a literary sensation over night, is his first novel.

The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, for which he received the Pulitzer, is generally regarded as his magnum opus.

Wonder Boys, also dexterously modified for the silver screen by Curtis Hanson, is my favorite. And so forth.

When does Chabon sleep, really? Hmm.

Check out his latest The Yiddish Policemen's Union. It will deliver in true Chabon fashion.


graph per wikipedia

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Did you read about some of the 'controversy' he caused back in May after some reviewer called his latest book anti-semitic? Btw, Chabon's answer was, "My mother, when she saw this item in the Post, she was kvelling. She said, 'Now you know you've arrived as a Jewish-American writer. When you've been condemned by other Jews as an anti-Semite, you know you've made it.'"

B.R. said...

Yeah, that was a poor and poorly written review I thought.

Anonymous said...

Bri. Lev Grossman did a piece on Michael Chabon on Time magazine.

B.R. said...

Just saw it this week.