Michael Chabon

Chabon at a book signing in 2006.
Pseudonym:	Leon Chaim Bach, Malachi B. Cohen, August Van Zorn
Born:	May 24, 1963 (1963-05-24) (age 44) Washington, D.C.
Occupation:	Novelist, screenwriter, columnist, short story writer
Nationality:	American
Debut works:	The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, 1988
Influences:	Jorge Luis Borges, John Cheever, Paul Auster, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gustave Flaubert, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Vladimir Nabokov, Robert Stone, Edith Wharton[1]
Website:	www.michaelchabon.com

Michael Chabon (born May 24, 1963) is an American author and "one of the most celebrated writers of his generation."^[2] His first novel, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh (1988), was published when Chabon was 25 and catapulted him to the status of literary celebrity. He followed it with a second novel, Wonder Boys (1995), and two short-story collections. In 2000, Chabon published The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, a critically acclaimed novel that The New York Review of Books called his magnum opus; it won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2001. His latest novel, The Yiddish Policemen's Union, was published in 2007 to enthusiastic reviews. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 536 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (1610 × 1799 pixel, file size: 350 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... A pseudonym (Greek: , pseudo + -onym: false name) is an artificial, fictitious name, also known as an alias, used by an individual as an alternative to a persons legal name. ... is the 144th day of the year (145th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Nickname: Motto: Justitia Omnibus (Justice for All) Location of Washington, D.C., in relation to the states Maryland and Virginia Coordinates: , Country United States Federal District District of Columbia Government  - Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D)  - D.C. Council Chairperson: Vincent C. Gray (D) Ward 1: Jim Graham (D) Ward 2... For the album by the Kaiser Chiefs see Employment (album) Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. ... In English usage, nationality is the legal relationship between a person and a country. ... The Mysteries of Pittsburgh was American author Michael Chabons first novel. ... See also: 1987 in literature, other events of 1988, 1989 in literature, list of years in literature. ... Jorge Luis Borges (August 24, 1899 – June 14, 1986) was an Argentine writer. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Paul Auster Paul Benjamin Auster (born February 3, 1947, Newark, New Jersey) is a Brooklyn-based author. ... Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American Jazz Age author of novels and short stories. ... Gustave Flaubert Gustave Flaubert (December 12, 1821 – May 8, 1880) was a French writer who is counted among the greatest Western novelists. ... Gabriel Garcia Marquez Gabriel García Márquez (born March 6, 1928) is a Colombian novelist, journalist, publisher, and political activist. ... Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (Russian: Влади́мир Влади́мирович Набо́ков, pronounced ) (April 22 [O.S. April 10] 1899, Saint Petersburg – July 2, 1977, Montreux) was a Russian-American, Academy Award nominated author. ... Photo of Robert Stone by Robert Birnbaum Robert Stone (born August 21, 1937) is a critically well regarded American novelist, whose work is typically characterized by psychological complexity, political concerns, and dark humor. ... Edith Wharton (January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937) was an American novelist, short story writer, and designer. ... is the 144th day of the year (145th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Authorship redirects here. ... The Mysteries of Pittsburgh was American author Michael Chabons first novel. ... Wonder Boys is a 2000 motion picture starring Michael Douglas, Tobey Maguire, Frances McDormand, Katie Holmes, and Robert Downey Jr. ... The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is a 2000 novel by Michael Chabon. ... This article is about the literary magazine. ... Magnum opus (sometimes Opus magnum, plural magna opera), from the Latin meaning great work,[1] refers to the best, most popular, or most renowned achievement of an author, artist, or composer, and most commonly one who has contributed a very large amount of material. ... The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction has been awarded since 1948 for distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life. ... See also: 2000 in literature, other events of 2001, 2002 in literature, list of years in literature. ... The Yiddish Policemens Union is a 2007 novel by American author Michael Chabon. ...

His work is characterized by complex language, frequent use of metaphor, and an extensive vocabulary,^[3] along with numerous recurring themes, including nostalgia,^[3] divorce, abandonment, fatherhood, and issues of Jewish identity.^[4] He often includes gay, bisexual, and Jewish characters in his work.^[5][4] Since the late 1990s, Chabon has written in an increasingly diverse series of styles for varied outlets; he is a notable defender of the merits of genre fiction and plot-driven fiction, and, along with novels, he has published screenplays, children's books, comics, and newspaper serials. Look up metaphor in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... One may feel nostalgic for the familiar routine of school, conveniently forgetting the painful experiences such as bullying. ... Ashkenazi Jews praying in the Synagogue on Yom Kippur. ... Homosexuality refers to sexual interaction and / or romantic attraction between individuals of the same sex. ... In human sexuality, bisexuality describes a man or woman having a sexual orientation to persons of either or both sexes (a man or woman who sexually likes both sexes; people who are sexually and/or romantically attracted to both males and females). ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination... Genre fiction is a term for fictional works (novels, short stories) written with the intent of fitting into a specific literary genre in order to appeal to the fans of that genre. ... Look up plot in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles accessible from a disambiguation page. ...

Biography

Early years

Chabon (pronounced, in his words, "Shea as in Shea Stadium, Bon as in Bon Jovi", i.e., [ˈʃeɪˌbɑn]) was born in Washington, D.C., to Robert Chabon, a physician and lawyer, and Sharon Chabon, a lawyer, and was raised Jewish. Chabon has said he knew he wanted to be a writer when, at the age of ten, he wrote his first short story for a class assignment. Featuring Sherlock Holmes, the story received an A, and Chabon recalled, "I thought to myself, 'That's it. That's what I want to do. I can do this.' And I never had any second thoughts or doubts."^[6] His parents divorced when Chabon was eleven, and he grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Columbia, Maryland. Columbia, where Chabon lived nine months of the year with his mother, was "a progressive planned living community in which racial, economic, and religious diversity were actively fostered."^[3] William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, usually shortened to Shea Stadium, is an American baseball stadium in Flushing, New York. ... Bon Jovi is a hard rock band originating from Sayreville, New Jersey. ... Nickname: Motto: Justitia Omnibus (Justice for All) Location of Washington, D.C., in relation to the states Maryland and Virginia Coordinates: , Country United States Federal District District of Columbia Government  - Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D)  - D.C. Council Chairperson: Vincent C. Gray (D) Ward 1: Jim Graham (D) Ward 2... A portrait of Sherlock Holmes by Sidney Paget from the Strand Magazine, 1891 Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, who first appeared in publication in 1887. ... For other uses, see Pittsburg (disambiguation). ... Capital Harrisburg Largest city Philadelphia Area  Ranked 33rd  - Total 46,055 sq mi (119,283 km²)  - Width 280 miles (455 km)  - Length 160 miles (255 km)  - % water 2. ... Official language(s) None (English, de facto) Capital Annapolis Largest city Baltimore Area  Ranked 42nd  - Total 12,407 sq mi (32,133 km²)  - Width 90 miles (145 km)  - Length 249 miles (400 km)  - % water 21  - Latitude 37° 53′ N to 39° 43′ N  - Longitude 75° 03′ W to 79° 29...

Chabon attended Carnegie Mellon University for a year before transferring to the University of Pittsburgh, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1984.^[3] He then went to graduate school at the University of California, Irvine, where he received a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing. Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. ... The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related, doctoral/research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. ... A B.A. issused as a certificate Bachelor of Arts (B.A., BA or A.B.), from the Latin Artium Baccalaureus is an undergraduate bachelors degree awarded for either a course or a program in the liberal arts or the sciences, or both. ... The University of California, Irvine is a public research university primarily situated in suburban Irvine, California, USA; a significant portion of the campus falls into the neighboring community of Newport Beach. ... In the United States, a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) is a terminal graduate degree in an area of visual, plastic, literary or performing arts typically requiring two to three years of study beyond the bachelor level. ... Creative writing is a term used to distinguish certain imaginative or different types of writing from technical writing. ...

Initial literary success

Chabon's first novel, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, was written as his UC-Irvine master's thesis. Without telling Chabon, his professor, Donald Heiney (better known by his pen name, MacDonald Harris), sent it to a literary agent,^[7] who got the author an impressive $155,000 advance on the novel (most first-time novelists receive advances ranging from $5,000 to $7,500.)^[8] The Mysteries of Pittsburgh appeared in 1988 and became a bestseller, instantly catapulting Chabon to the status of literary celebrity. The Mysteries of Pittsburgh was American author Michael Chabons first novel. ... Donald Heiney (September 7, 1921 - July 24, 1993) was a sailor and academic as well as a prolific and inventive writer, using the pseudonym of MacDonald Harris for fiction. ... A pen name or nom de plume is a pseudonym adopted by an author. ... A bestseller is a book that is identified as extremely popular by its inclusion on lists of currently top selling titles that are based on publishing industry and booktrade figures and published by newspapers, magazines, or bookstore chains. ...

Chabon was ambivalent about his newfound fame. He turned down offers to appear in a Gap ad and to be featured as one of People's "50 Most Beautiful People."^[9] (He later said, of the People offer, "I don't give a shit [about it]....I only take pride in things I've actually done myself. To be praised for something like that is just weird. It just felt like somebody calling and saying, 'We want to put you in a magazine because the weather's so nice where you live.'")^[5] Gap, Incorporated (NYSE: GPS) is an American clothing and accessories retailer based in San Francisco, California and founded in 1969 by Donald Fisher and Doris Fisher. ...

In 2001, Chabon reflected on the success of his first novel by saying that while "the upside was that I was published and I got a readership[, the] downside....was that, emotionally, this stuff started happening and I was still like, 'Wait a minute, is my thesis done yet?' It took me a few years to catch up."^[5] In 1991, Chabon published A Model World, a collection of short stories, many of which had been published previously in The New Yorker. A Model World and Other Stories is a 1991 collection of short stories by Michael Chabon. ... The New Yorker is an American magazine that publishes reportage, criticism, essays, cartoons, poetry and fiction. ...

Struggles with second novel

After the success of The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, Chabon spent five years working on a second novel. Called Fountain City, the novel was a "highly ambitious opus....about an architect building a perfect baseball park in Florida"^[10] that eventually ballooned to 1,500 pages, with no end in sight.^[6] The process was frustrating for Chabon, who, in his words, "never felt like I was conceptually on steady ground."^[10]

At one point, Chabon submitted a 672-page draft to his agent and editor, who disliked the work. Chabon had problems dropping the novel, though. "It was really scary," he said later. "I'd already signed a contract and been paid all this money. And then I'd gotten a divorce and half the money was already with my ex-wife. My instincts were telling me, This book is fucked. Just drop it. But I didn't, because I thought, What if I have to give the money back?"^[11] Chabon said that he "used to go down to my office and fantasize about all the books I could write instead."

When he finally decided to abandon Fountain City, Chabon recalls staring at his blank computer for hours, before suddenly picturing "a 'straightlaced, troubled young man with a tendency toward melodrama' trying to end it all."^[6] He began writing, and within a couple of days, had written 50 pages of what would become his second novel, Wonder Boys. Chabon drew on his experiences with Fountain City for the character of Grady Tripp, a frustrated novelist who has spent years working on an immense fourth novel. The author wrote Wonder Boys in a dizzy seven-month streak, without telling his agent or publisher he'd abandoned Fountain City. The book, published in 1995, was a commercial and critical success. Wonder Boys is a 2000 motion picture starring Michael Douglas, Tobey Maguire, Frances McDormand, Katie Holmes, and Robert Downey Jr. ...

Kavalier & Clay

Among the supporters of Wonder Boys was The Washington Post critic Jonathan Yardley; however, despite declaring Chabon "the young star of American letters," Yardley argued that, in his works to that point, Chabon had been preoccupied "with fictional explorations of his own....It is time for him to move on, to break away from the first person and explore larger worlds."^[12] Chabon later said that he took Yardley's criticism to heart, explaining, "It chimed with my own thoughts. I had bigger ambitions."^[13] In 1999 he published his second collection of short stories, Werewolves in their Youth, which included his first published foray into genre fiction,^[2] the grim horror story "In the Dark Mill." The Washington Post is the largest newspaper in Washington, D.C.. It is also one of the citys oldest papers, having been founded in 1877. ... Jonathan Yardley is a book critic for the The Washington Post, and at one time for the Washington Star. ... This article is in need of attention. ... Genre fiction is a term for fictional works (novels, short stories) written with the intent of fitting into a specific literary genre in order to appeal to the fans of that genre. ...

Shortly after completing Wonder Boys, Chabon discovered a box of comic books from his childhood; a reawakened interest in comics, coupled with memories of the "lore" his Brooklyn-born father had told him about "the middle years of the twentieth century in America....the radio shows, politicians, movies, music, and athletes, and so forth, of that era," inspired him to begin work on a new novel.^[14] In 2000, he published The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, an epic historical novel that charts sixteen years in the lives of Sammy Clay and Joe Kavalier, two Jewish cousins who create a wildly popular series of comic books in the 1930s, in the midst of World War II. The novel received "nearly unanimous praise" and became a New York Times Best Seller,^[3] eventually winning the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Chabon reflected that, in writing Kavalier & Clay, "I discovered strengths I had hoped that I possessed — the ability to pull off multiple points of view, historical settings, the passage of years — but which had never been tested before."^[15] A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ... This article is about the borough of New York City. ... The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is a 2000 novel by Michael Chabon. ... Look up historical fiction in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The New York Times Best Seller List is a weekly chart in The New York Times newspaper that keeps track of the best-selling books of the week. ... The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction has been awarded since 1948 for distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life. ...

Recent work

In 2002, Chabon published Summerland, a fantasy novel written for younger readers that received mixed reviews but sold extremely well,^[16] and won the 2003 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award. Two years later, he published The Final Solution, a novella about an investigation led by an unknown old man, whom the reader can guess to be Sherlock Holmes, during the final years of World War II. His Dark Horse Comics project The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist, a quarterly anthology series that was published from 2004 to 2006, purported to cull stories from an involved, fictitious sixty-year history of the Escapist character created by the protagonists of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. It was awarded the 2005 Eisner Award for Best Anthology and a pair of Harvey Awards for Best Anthology and Best New Series. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Mythopoeic Awards for literature and literary studies are given by the Mythopoeic Society to authors of outstanding works in the fields of myth, fantasy, and the scholarly study of these areas. ... The Final Solution is a novel by Michael Chabon. ... A portrait of Sherlock Holmes by Sidney Paget from the Strand Magazine, 1891 Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, who first appeared in publication in 1887. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Escapist is a comic book character in the book The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. ... The Will Eisner Comic Industry Award is given for creative achievement in comic books. ... The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. ...

In late 2006, Chabon completed work on Gentlemen of the Road, a 15-part serialized novel that ran in The New York Times Magazine from January 28, 2007 to May 6, 2007. The serial (which at one point had the working title "Jews with Swords") was described by Chabon as "a swashbuckling adventure story set around the year 1000."^[17] Just before Gentlemen of the Road completed its run, the author published his latest novel, The Yiddish Policemen's Union, which he had worked on since February 2002. A hardboiled detective story that imagines an alternate history in which Israel collapsed in 1948 and European Jews settled in Alaska, the novel was released on May 1, 2007 to enthusiastic reviews,^[18] and spent six weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list.^[19] Gentlemen of the Road is a serial novel by American author Michael Chabon. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... is the 28th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 126th day of the year (127th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... The Yiddish Policemens Union is a 2007 novel by American author Michael Chabon. ... Alternative history or alternate history can be: A History told from an alternative viewpoint, rather than from the view of imperialist, conqueror, or explorer. ... Official language(s) English[1] Spoken language(s) English 85. ... is the 121st day of the year (122nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ...

In May 2007, Chabon said that he was working on a young-adult novel with "some fantastic content."^[20] A month later, the author said he had put plans for the young-adult book on hold,^[21] and instead had signed a two-book deal with HarperCollins, with his first book-length work of nonfiction to be published in spring 2009; the work will "discuss being a man in all its complexity — a son, a father, a husband."^[22] Chabon's second book under the contract will be a contemporary adult novel set in and around the San Francisco Bay Area, and has a tentative publication date of 2011. HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by Rupert Murdochs News Corporation. ... Non-fiction is a truthful account or representation of a subject which is composed of facts. ... USGS satellite photo of the San Francisco Bay Area. ...

Personal life

In 1987, Chabon married the poet Lollie Groth. After the publication of The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, he was mistakenly featured in a Newsweek article on up-and-coming gay writers (Pittsburgh's protagonist has liaisons with people of both sexes.) The New York Times later reported that "in some ways, [Chabon] was happy" for the magazine's error, saying, "I feel very lucky about all of that. It really opened up a new readership to me, and a very loyal one."^[9] In a 2002 interview, Chabon added, "[I]f Mysteries of Pittsburgh is about anything in terms of human sexuality and identity, it's that people can't be put into categories all that easily."^[23] In a 2005 article called On "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh" that he wrote for the New York Review of Books, Chabon remarks on the autiobiographical events that helped inspire his first novel: "I had slept with one man whom I loved, and learned to love another man so much that it would never have occurred to me to want to sleep with him."^[24] The Newsweek logo Newsweek is a weekly news magazine published in New York City and distributed throughout the United States and internationally. ... The New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City by Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. ...

According to Chabon, the popularity of The Mysteries of Pittsburgh had adverse effects; he later explained, "I was married at the time to someone else who was also a struggling writer, and the success created a gross imbalance in our careers, which was problematic."^[5] He and Groth divorced in 1991, and he married the writer Ayelet Waldman in 1993. They currently live together in Berkeley, California with their four children,^[25] Sophie, Zeke, Ida-Rose, and Abraham. Chabon has said that the "creative freeflow" he has with Waldman inspired the relationship between Sammy Clay and Rosa Saks towards the end of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay,^[14] and in 2007, Entertainment Weekly declared the couple "a famous — and famously in love — writing pair, like Nick and Nora Charles with word processors and not so much booze."^[20] Ayelet Waldman (born 1964) is an American writer of fiction, born in Jerusalem, and raised in Montreal and New Jersey. ... Berkeley is a city on the east shore of San Francisco Bay in northern California, in the United States. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Largest metro area Greater Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... Entertainment Weekly (sometimes abbreviated EW) is a magazine published by Time Inc. ... Nick and Nora Charles (William Powell and Myrna Loy in the 1939 film Another Thin Man) Nick and Nora Charles, or Mr. ...

In 2000, Chabon told The New York Times that he kept a strict schedule, writing from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day, Sunday through Thursday.^[9] He tries to write 1,000 words a day. Commenting on the rigidity of his routine, Chabon said, "There have been plenty of self-destructive rebel-angel novelists over the years, but writing is about getting your work done and getting your work done every day. If you want to write novels, they take a long time, and they're big, and they have a lot of words in them....[T]he best environment, at least for me, is a very stable, structured kind of life."^[5]

Interest in genre fiction

In a 2002 essay, Chabon decried the state of modern short fiction (including his own), saying that, with rare exceptions, it consisted solely of "the contemporary, quotidian, plotless, moment-of-truth revelatory story."^[26] In an apparent reaction against these "plotless [stories] sparkling with epiphanic dew," Chabon's post-2000 work has been marked by an increased interest in genre fiction and plot. While The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay was, like The Mysteries of Pittsburgh and Wonder Boys, an essentially realistic, contemporary novel (whose plot happened to revolve around comic-book superheroes), Chabon's subsequent works — such as The Final Solution, his dabbling with comic book writing, and the "swashbuckling adventure" of Gentlemen of the Road — have been almost exclusively devoted to mixing aspects of genre and literary fiction.^[7] Chabon seeks to "annihilate" not the genres themselves, but the bias against certain genres of fiction such as fantasy, science fiction and romance. ^[7] Genre fiction is a term for fictional works (novels, short stories) written with the intent of fitting into a specific literary genre in order to appeal to the fans of that genre. ... Look up plot in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ...

Chabon's forays into genre fiction have met with mixed critical reaction. One science fiction short story by Chabon, "The Martian Agent," was described by a reviewer as "enough to send readers back into the cold but reliable arms of The New Yorker."^[27] Another critic wrote of the same story that it was “richly plotted, action-packed,“ and that “Chabon skilfully elaborates his world and draws not just on the steampunk worlds of William Gibson, Bruce Sterling and Michael Moorcock, but on alternate histories by brilliant SF mavericks such as Avram Davidson and Howard Waldrop. The imperial politics are craftily resonant and the story keeps us hanging on.”^[28] While The Village Voice called The Final Solution "an ingenious, fully imagined work, an expert piece of literary ventriloquism, and a mash note to the beloved boys' tales of Chabon's youth",^[29] The Boston Globe wrote, "[T]he genre of the comic book is an anemic vein for novelists to mine, lest they squander their brilliance,"^[30] and The New York Times added that the detective story, "a genre that is by its nature so constrained, so untransgressive, seems unlikely to appeal to the real writer."^[27] Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... For the comic book, see Steampunk (comics). ... There are a number of people who have been (or are) named William Gibson. ... Michael Bruce Sterling (born April 14, 1954) is an American science fiction author, best known for his novels and his seminal work on the Mirrorshades anthology, which defined the cyberpunk genre. ... Michael John Moorcock (born December 18, 1939, in London, England) is a prolific English writer primarily of science fiction and fantasy who has also published a number of literary novels. ... Avram Davidson (April 23, 1923 – May 8, 1993) was a writer of fantasy fiction, science fiction, and crime fiction, as well as the author of many unclassifiable but unforgetable stories that do not fit into a genre niche. ... Howard Waldrop (born September 15, 1946) in Houston, Mississippi, and got his degree from the University of Texas. ... This article is about a New York newspaper. ... Ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his best-known sidekick, Charlie McCarthy. ... The Boston Globe (and Boston Sunday Globe) is the most widely circulated daily newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts and New England. ...

In 2005, Chabon argued against the idea that genre fiction, and entertaining fiction, shouldn't appeal to "the real writer," saying that the common perception is that "Entertainment....means junk. [But] maybe the reason for the junkiness of so much of what pretends to entertain us is that we have accepted — indeed, we have helped to articulate — such a narrow, debased concept of entertainment....I'd like to believe that, because I read for entertainment, and I write to entertain. Period."^[31]

Among the more positive responses to Chabon's brand of "trickster literature" appeared in Time magazine, whose Lev Grossman wrote that "This is literature in mid-transformation....[t]he highbrow and the lowbrow, once kept chastely separate, are now hooking up, [and] you can almost see the future of literature coming."^[32] Grossman classed Chabon with a movement of authors similarly eager to blend literary and popular writing, including Jonathan Lethem (with whom Chabon is friends),^[2] Margaret Atwood, and Susanna Clarke. Time (whose trademark is capitalized TIME) is a weekly American newsmagazine, similar to Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report. ... Lev Grossman is an American writer, notably the author of Codex. ... Lethem giving the keynote address at the EMP Pop Conference, 2007. ... Margaret Eleanor Atwood, OC (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian writer. ... At the 63rd World Science Fiction Convention in Glasgow, August 2005 with a Hugo award Susanna Clarke (b. ...

The Van Zorn persona

For some of his own genre work, Chabon has forged an unusual horror/fantasy fiction persona under the name of August Van Zorn. More elaborately developed than a pseudonym, August Van Zorn is purported to be a pen name for one Albert Vetch (1899 – 1963).^[33] In Chabon's 1995 novel Wonder Boys, narrator Grady Tripp writes that he grew up in the same hotel as Vetch, who worked as an English professor at the (nonexistent) Coxley College and wrote hundreds of pulp stories that were "in the gothic mode, after the manner of Lovecraft....but written in a dry, ironic, at times almost whimsical idiom."^[33] A horror-themed short story titled "In the Black Mill" was published in Playboy in June 1997 and reprinted in Chabon's 1999 story collection Werewolves in Their Youth, and was attributed to Van Zorn.^[34] A pseudonym (Greek: , pseudo + -onym: false name) is an artificial, fictitious name, also known as an alias, used by an individual as an alternative to a persons legal name. ... Flynns Detective Fiction from 1941. ... Howard Phillips Lovecraft (August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American author from Providence, Rhode Island of fantasy, horror and science fiction. ... Playboy is an American mens magazine, founded in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, which has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc. ...

Chabon has created a comprehensive bibliography for Van Zorn, along with an equally fictional literary scholar devoted to his oeuvre named Leon Chaim Bach.^[35] Bach's now-defunct website (which existed under the auspices of Chabon's) declared Van Zorn to be, "without question, the greatest unknown horror writer of the twentieth century," and mentioned that Bach had once edited a collection of short stories by Van Zorn titled The Abominations of Plunkettsburg.^[36] (The name "Leon Chaim Bach" is an anagram of "Michael Chabon," as is "Malachi B. Cohen," the name of a fictional comics expert who wrote occasional essays about the Escapist for the character's Dark Horse Comic series.) In 2004, Chabon established the August Van Zorn Prize, "awarded to the short story that most faithfully and disturbingly embodies the tradition of the weird short story as practiced by Edgar Allan Poe and his literary descendants, among them August Van Zorn."^[2] The first recipient of the prize was Jason Roberts, whose winning story, "7C", was then included in McSweeney's Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories, edited by Chabon.^[35] Opus, from the Latin word opus meaning work, is usually used in the sense of a work of art. Some composers musical pieces are identified by opus numbers which generally run either in order of composition or in order of publication. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American poet, short story writer, editor, critic and one of the leaders of the American Romantic Movement. ... Jason Roberts is an American writer of fiction and nonfiction. ...

The Chabon universe

Chabon has provided several subtle hints throughout his work that the stories he tells take place in a shared fictional universe. One recurring character, who is mentioned in three of Chabon's books but never actually appears, is Eli Drinkwater, a fictional catcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates who died abruptly after crashing his car on Mt. Nebo Road.^[37] The most detailed exposition of Drinkwater's life appears in Chabon's 1990 short story "Smoke," which is set at Drinkwater's funeral, and refers to him as "a scholarly catcher, a redoubtable batsman, and a kind, affectionate person."^[37] Drinkwater was again referred to (though not by name) in Chabon's 1995 novel Wonder Boys, in which narrator Grady Tripp explains that his sportswriter friend Happy Blackmore was hired "to ghost the autobiography of a catcher, a rising star who played for Pittsburgh and hit the sort of home runs that linger in the memory for years."^[38] Tripp explains that Blackmore turned in an inadequate draft, his book contract was cancelled, and the catcher died shortly afterwards, "leaving nothing in Happy's notorious 'files' but the fragments and scribblings of a ghost."^[38] In Chabon's children's book Summerland (2002), it is suggested that Blackmore was eventually able to find a publisher for the biography; the character Jennifer T. mentions that she has read a book called Eli Drinkwater: A Life in Baseball, written by Happy Blackmore.^[39] The position of the catcher Catcher is also a general term for a fielder who catches the ball in cricket. ... Major league affiliations National League (1887–present) Central Division (1994–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 1, 4, 8, 9, 20, 21, 33, 40, 42 Name Pittsburgh Pirates (1891–present) Pittsburgh Innocents (1890) Pittsburg Alleghenies (1882–1889) (Also referred to as Infants in 1890) Ballpark PNC Park (2001–present) Three Rivers...

There are also instances in which character surnames reappear from story to story. Cleveland Arning, a character in Chabon's 1988 debut novel, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, is described as having come from a wealthy family,^[40] one that might be expected to be able to endow a building. Near the end of Wonder Boys (1995), it is mentioned that, on the unnamed college campus at which Grady Tripp teaches, there is a building called Arning Hall "where the English faculty kept office hours."^[41] Similarly, in Chabon’s 1989 short story "A Model World," a character named Levine discovers, or rather plagiarizes, a formula for "nephokinesis" (or cloud control) that wins him respect and prominence in the meteorological field.^[42] In The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (2000), a passing reference is made to the "massive Levine School of Applied Meteorology," ostensibly a building owned by New York University.^[43] A financial endowment is a transfer of money or property donated to an institution, with the stipulation that it be invested, and the principal remain intact. ... // Meteorology (from Greek: μετέωρον, meteoron, high in the sky; and λόγος, logos, knowledge) is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the atmosphere that focuses on weather processes and forecasting. ... New York University (NYU) is a private, nonsectarian, coeducational research university in New York City. ...

Experiences with Hollywood

Although Michael Chabon has described his attitude toward Hollywood as "pre-emptive cynicism,"^[8] for years the author has nevertheless engaged in sustained, and often fruitless, efforts to bring both adapted and original projects to the screen. In 1994, Chabon pitched a screenplay entitled The Gentleman Host to producer Scott Rudin, a romantic comedy "about old Jewish folks on a third-rate cruise ship out of Miami."^[11] Rudin bought the project and developed it with Chabon, but it was never filmed, partly due to the release of the similarly-themed film Out to Sea in 1997. In the nineties, Chabon also pitched story ideas for both the X-Men^[44] and The Fantastic Four^[45] movies, but was rejected. Scott Rudin (born July 14, 1958) is an American motion picture producer known not only for his award-winning films, but also for his legendary temper. ... Out to Sea is a 1997 romantic comedy film starring Walter Matthau, Jack Lemmon, Rue McClanahan, Dyan Cannon & Brent Spiner. ... The X-Men are a group of comic book superheroes featured in Marvel Comics. ... The Fantastic Four is Marvel Comics flagship superhero team, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and debuting in The Fantastic Four #1 (Nov. ...

When Scott Rudin was adapting Wonder Boys for the screen, the author declined an offer to write the screenplay, saying he was too busy writing The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.^[8] (Directed by Curtis Hanson and starring Michael Douglas, Wonder Boys was released in 2000 to critical acclaim.) Having bought the film rights to The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Rudin then asked Chabon to work on that film's screenplay. Although Chabon spent sixteen months from 2001–2002 working on the novel's film adaptation, the project has been mired in pre-production for years. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other people bearing this name, see Michael Douglas (disambiguation). ... Wonder Boys is a 2000 film adaptation of the Michael Chabon novel of the same name. ...

Chabon's work, however, remains popular in Hollywood, with Rudin purchasing the film rights to The Yiddish Policemen's Union in 2002, five years before the book would be published. The same year, Miramax bought the rights to Summerland and Tales of Mystery and Imagination (a short story collection that Chabon has not yet written), each of which was optioned for a sum in the mid-six figures.^[8] Chabon also wrote a draft for 2004's Spider-Man 2, about a third of which was used in the final film. Around the time of the film's release, Chabon wrote that "People seem to want to know which parts of the final film, if any, represent my contribution. I always say, 'The ones you liked the best.' That is, of course, a non-answer. As is this."^[46] Soon after Spider-Man 2 was released, director Sam Raimi mentioned that he hoped to hire Chabon to work on the film's sequel, "if I can get him,"^[47] though Chabon would end up not working on Spider-Man 3. Miramax is a Big Ten film distribution and production company. ... Spider-Man 2 is a 2004 superhero film directed by Sam Raimi, written by Alvin Sargent and developed by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, David Koepp and Michael Chabon. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Spider-Man 3 is a 2007 superhero film written and directed by Sam Raimi, with a screenplay by Ivan Raimi and Alvin Sargent. ...

In October 2004, it was announced that Chabon was at work writing Disney's Snow and the Seven, a live-action martial arts retelling of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to be directed by master Hong Kong fight choreographer and director Yuen Wo Ping.^[48] In August 2006, Chabon said that he had been replaced on Snow, sarcastically explaining that the producers wanted to go in "more of a fun direction."^[49] Also, though Chabon is uninvolved with the project, director Rawson Thurber shot a film adaptation of The Mysteries of Pittsburgh starring Peter Sarsgaard in Fall 2006, for a planned 2007 release.^[50] Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a 1937 animated feature, the first produced by Walt Disney. ... Yuen Woo-ping is a martial arts choreographer and director. ... A graduate of the Peter Stark Producing Program at USC, Rawson Marshall Thurber wrote and directed the original Terry Tate: Office Linebacker commercials for Reebok. ... The Mysteries of Pittsburgh is an adaptation of the 1988 best-selling novel The Mysteries of Pittsburgh by Michael Chabon. ... Peter Sarsgaard (born March 7, 1971) is a Golden Globe Award-nominated American film and stage actor. ...

Works

Novels

• The Mysteries of Pittsburgh (1988)
• Wonder Boys (1995)
• The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (2000)
• Summerland (2002)
• The Final Solution (2004)
• The Yiddish Policemen's Union (2007)
• Gentlemen of the Road (forthcoming, October 2007)

The Mysteries of Pittsburgh was American author Michael Chabons first novel. ... Wonder Boys is a 2000 motion picture starring Michael Douglas, Tobey Maguire, Frances McDormand, Katie Holmes, and Robert Downey Jr. ... The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is a 2000 novel by Michael Chabon. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Final Solution is a novel by Michael Chabon. ... The Yiddish Policemens Union is a 2007 novel by American author Michael Chabon. ... Gentlemen of the Road is a serial novel by American author Michael Chabon. ...

Short story collections

• A Model World and Other Stories (1991)
• Werewolves in Their Youth (1999)

A Model World and Other Stories is a 1991 collection of short stories by Michael Chabon. ... Werewolves in Their Youth is a collection of short stories by Michael Chabon published in 1999. ...

As contributor or editor

• McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales (editor and contributor) (2003)
• JSA All Stars #7, "The Strange Case of Mr. Terrific and Doctor Nil" (writer) (2004)
• McSweeney's Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories (editor) (2004)
• Michael Chabon Presents: The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist (comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics) (2004 – 2005) (Numbers 1 – 8; the first six are also collected in three books, two numbers per volume)
• The Best American Short Stories 2005 (editor, with Katrina Kenison) (2005)
• The Escapists (6-issue comic book limited series published by Dark Horse Comics) (2006)

McSweeneys is a publishing house founded by editor Dave Eggers, author of You Shall Know Our Velocity, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius , How We Are Hungry and What Is the What. ... McSweeneys is a publishing house founded by editor Dave Eggers, author of You Shall Know Our Velocity, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius , How We Are Hungry and What Is the What. ... The Escapist is a comic book character in the book The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Best American Short Stories yearly anthology is a part of the Best American Series published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. ... The limited series is a term referring to a comic book series with a set finite number of issues. ...

Footnotes