I liked the film Wonder Boys (2000) so very much that I set out to read all of Michael Chabon's writing. Here's my interim report. I couldn't finish The Mysteries of Pittsburgh (William Morrow, 1988). The book is reported to have sold well and it has been widely praised, but, I'm sorry, I thought it was precious juvenilia and should never have been published. I do, however, love the title. A Model World (1991) and Werewolves in Their Youth (Random House, 1999) are collections of short stories. I found them both mighty insubstantial, and I confess to wearying of the little boy whose father left the family (a far-too-frequently-repeated motif). Wonder Boys (1995) is a fine, complicated, clever, satisfying novel. Grady Tripp, Terry Crabtree, and James Leer are all memorable creations. The Passover service (omitted in the film) is top-flight -- comic and moving at the same time. The story is fast, funny, and original -- even richer than the fine, little-known movie.
I respected more than I loved the pullet-surprise winning Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (Random House, 2000). It's engaging but overcrowded. While reading it, I was too conscious of the artifice and too aware of the novel's debts: Nabokov, a pinch of Pynchon, Doctorow, etc. Chabon's a great storyteller with a bright future. So far, he's doesn't have the heft of Bellow or the fluency of Roth, but he's up there in the big leagues. I'm hoping Summerland and The Final Solution are as good as the novels I've read so far. It's going to be fun to follow Chabon's career. He's a talented guy.
October 25. Today I read the novella The Final Solution (Harper Collins, 2004). It's a snazzy mystery. Chabon returns to his infatuation with mythic figures; he also re-creates the hero-sidekick relationship that is an obsession of AAKC -- this time its S. Holmes and Linus Steinman. A very entertaining story, although sometimes I worried that I was reading a filmscript-in potentia. Perhaps I'm too suspicious: not many directors are jumping to cast a parrot in the lead role.
October 30. I read forty or so pages of Summerland (Miramax, 2002). Two words: "teen" and "fantasy." Not at all my cup of tea. I hope that Chabon doesn't continue to indulge himself with such trivialities. He's too good for this stuff.
Michael: get back to work! Get serious!
Am in close agreement here, having recently reread Wonder Boys to great delight. The movie version is pretty damn good too, and holds up to repeated viewing. Though the Passover sequence is terrific, you can see why they had to ditch it. I liked K & C until about 2/3 through, when it turned tiresome. Have avoided The Final Solution, but since you liked it so much, will give it a try.
Posted by: Kerry | November 02, 2006 at 10:35 AM