Chabon is really smart and can really turn a phrase, but that was my problem with this book. It just seemed as if he were showing off to the reader how smart he is. Look at me, I'm the next James Joyce! The subject matter wasn't of much interest to me, either: trading cards and old records and bi...
Listened to this book on tape, since Chabon was reading it, I'm sure that added some to my enjoyment of this diverse series of essays on growing up as a son, learning to write and be a man, reflecting on his own writing and being a husband and father.Lots of topics are covered, not least of which...
Almost 4 stars. It reads like a collection of short stories...you can skip a few chapters or stories and not miss much. I knocked it down a star because I found too many stories not worth finishing. The ones i liked, I LOVED. Insightful, humorous, poignant. He speaks as a parent, and an imperfect...
Engaging graphics (to some people, at least) in The Incredibles style, cute story, and it slips in a couple of messages about taking care of yourself and your needs rather than taking anger out on others. You see, Awesome Man can't just go around kicking or pushing things when he gets mad, becaus...
The Astonishing Secret of Awesome Man is an awesomely hilarious debut picture book from Pulitzer Prize winning author Michael Chabon and animation illustrator Jake Parker. Awesome Man is a super hero who can do no wrong. He has an Awesome Power Grip, shoots positronic rays out of his eyeballs and...
Eh?I have started reading The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay with certain expectations - if not great, then at least considerable. I have seen Chabon's name pop up on this site pretty often, reminding me of the fact that I have not yet read anything by him - this seemed like an obvious cho...
Last summer I decided that I was going to read all of the Sherlock Holmes stories. I went to the library and found an extremely large and musty old book that contained every one of the short stories and novels. I spent the next week reading them one by one. As I got closer to the end of the book ...
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh by Michael Chabon, Harper Perennial, New York, 2005The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, first novel by young author Michael Chabon, is a coming of age story that tells the tale of Art Bechstein, a recent college graduate trying to find his way the summer before entering the re...
These days I come to short story collections cautiously.I don’t blame the stories. It’s my own fault.Six years ago, as I was working on my Ph.D., my advisor and I decided that in order to make myself more marketable to Departments of English in various schools I should specialize in something li...
A series of short stories great for the train commute. The 'wtf' factor for each story is pretty high and you have to really think about what is going on or what the author is trying to say. I really liked this book for a number of reasons. As people, we have expectations for ourselves and for ...
Wonder BoysOver Christmas I met a woman named Storm. When she found out I was a writer she became excited and inquisitive. Her therapist, she said, told her she should "reinvent" herself so she signed up for a five-day writer's workshop. She asked me all sorts of questions and I answered truthful...
(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com:]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)Is Michael Chabon possibly our nation's greatest living writer? Oh, wait, I already know the answe...
My local library lists this as both adult fiction and young adult fiction, so I wasn't sure what to expect from it. Young adult novels have come a long way since the days of Sweet Valley High, but I still wanted something that would hold my attention without coming across as juvenile. "Wonder Whe...