The Amazing Adventures of Michael Chabon

Hi,
I just wanted to start this thread to see if discussion can be generated for this great author.

For those who don't know, Michael Chabon is the author of Mysteries of Pittsburgh, Wonder Boys (later turned into a film w/Michael Douglas and Tobey Maguire), and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay that won the Pulitzer a few years back.

His most recent novel is Summerland , a fantasy, pseudo-kids book that centers around the love of baseball.

For this humble poster, Kavalier and Clay really was Chabon's greatest achievement thus far. He has a great love of icons that are generally considered a part of American History and Myth such as baseball and moreover, comic books.

So, please, if you haven't checked out his work yet, do so. And if you have, post in and give your thoughts on this creative mind.

 

Hmm... Speak of the devil. I just read an article on Michael Chabon in TIME (or was it NEWSWEEK?) last week. I wasn't at all familiar with his work, but the article sure made him seem interesting.

Earlier today I was at Barnes & Noble and came across Summerland. I didn't buy it but it looks interesting. I'm a bit concerned that my vehement dislike of baseball could impede my enjoyment of it, but I suppose if Chabon is really a good author it won't.

Like you suggest, I think I'll try out The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay before anything else. I'm looking at it's description at amazon.com right now and it looks good.

 

Kavalier and Clay kicked ass. Wonder Boys movie was better than the book.

That is all.

 

A warning for those rightfully looking to read Kavalier and Clay.

1) It's long. But definitely don't let that dissuade you.

2) There are definitely parts (and it varies for each reader) where the book drags for people. For me, it was more toward the beginning but there also definitely comes that part, just over the hump when the book really takes off for you and you end up reading 200 some pages of it in one sitting.

 

I must disagree with Lina. I didn't find it dragging at all, although it depends on your stylistic preferences. Like Neal Stephenson, he doesn't hesitate to pause the narrative for several pages to explain something or set up the situation. And Chabon is also very into very visual, kinetic writing with lots of details and lots of deliberately chosen words.