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Michael Chabon

Daily Dose

Daily Dose Pick: McSweeney’s Issue 36

By Tanja M. Laden on

The extremely unconventional 36th issue of McSweeney’s quarterly magazine is a box-shaped head filled with short stories, art postcards, a “lost” work by Michael Chabon, and a tiny scroll.

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius author Dave Eggers founded McSweeney’s independent publishing house as a forum for indie literary-fiction authors to articulate progressive ideas. Issue 36 is a “275-cubic-inch full-color head-crate” filled with booklets and other objects, ripe for the sifting. … Read More

Books

When Real Books Inspire Fake Books

By Chelsea Bauch on

Whether retroactively penned by adoring fans, postmodern literary pranksters, or the original authors themselves, imaginary books have a way of eventually making their way into reality, evolving from two-dimensional plot props into real published tomes. Although we’ve already made a wishlist of reads we wish fictional characters would write — and indeed over in TV-land, characters from Mad Men’s Roger Sterling to Californication’s Hank Moody have also had their fictional volumes published on this side of the screen — here are five real books that exemplify literary life imitating fictional art. … Read More

Books

A Portrait of the Devil as a Multi-Faced Diva

By Chelsea Bauch on

With his rebellious attitude, varied monikers, self-appointed titles, and dizzying array of costume changes, the devil is pretty much a quintessential diva — just with a few added demands. The newly released anthology Sympathy for the Devil showcases his popularity as a flamboyant literary muse with stories by the likes of goth-horror master Stephen King, Pulitzer-winning indie fave Michael Chabon, and high school English staple Nathaniel Hawthorne. But before disappearing into this well-curated abyss, familiarize yourself with the Prince of Darkness’ varied incarnations through our guide to some of his preferred literary personas — it might not save your soul, but at least you’ll know what you’re up against. … Read More

Books

Required Reading: 10 of the Best Summertime Novels

By Bailey Kennedy on

Setting down the right words to describe the magic of sleeping under one cool sheet or making s’mores around a bonfire is easier said than done. In case this triple-digit hot spell isn’t enough of an initiation into the dog days of summer for you, here are our top picks for novels where the essence of the season was done justice. Leave a comment if your favorite summer read didn’t make our list. … Read More

Books

Too Cool for Sex: The New York Times Castrates Hipster Male Authors

By Emily Temple on

Katie Roiphe’s recent essay in the New York Times entitled “The Naked and the Conflicted” calls out contemporary authors for being prude snugglers and praises mid-century males for being pervy sex-fiends. The article, complete with handy graphs, decries the current generation of literary greats as too obsessed with irony and ambivalence to let their characters (or themselves, she hints somewhat heavily) enjoy sex or their own virility. Citing David Foster Wallace, Jonathan Ames, Jonathan Franzen and Michael Chabon, among others, she… Read More

Books

Quote of the Day: Michael Chabon Says Childhood Is the Great Adventure

By Caroline Stanley on

Childhood is, or has been, or ought to be, the great original adventure, a tale of privation, courage, constant vigilance, danger, and sometimes calamity. For the most part the young adventurer sets forth equipped only with the fragmentary map — marked here there be tygers and mean kid with air rifle — that he or she has been able to construct out of a patchwork of personal misfortune, bedtime reading, and the accumulated local lore of the neighborhood children.

- This is why we love Michael Chabon; it’s also why he’s able to nail characters like Joe in The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay and James in Wonder Boys. [via … Read More

Books

Fiction Fix: “The Martian Agent, A Planetary Romance,” by Michael Chabon

By Caroline Stanley on

The Fiction Fix is your weekly dose of short story. If that’s not your drug of choice, too bad: consider it medicine. Every week, we’ll scour the literary magazines you don’t have time to read, online and in print, and let you know where to find one story worth reading. This week, we’re recommending an excerpt of  “The Martian Agent, A Planetary Romance,” a steampunk short story in the No. 10 issue of McSweeney’s that Slashfilm suggests is an adaptation of Michael Chabon’s new screenplay-in-progress, John Carter of Mars. … Read More

Film

How to Adapt a Michael Chabon Novel for the Big Screen

By Caroline Stanley on

When we first heard that Rawson Marshall Thurber — the same man who directed Dodgeball — was adapting Michael Chabon’s debut novel, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, we were slightly incredulous. But in an odd way it made sense: the silly comedy was all about a team of underdogs, and you could argue that the book’s protagonist Art Bechstein, the son of a powerful mob man, was kind of in the same boat. And as Thurber explained at The Mysteries of Pittsburgh press day, it was a project that he’d been dying to take on even before he knew he wanted to make movies for a living. … Read More

Books

Would You Rather Read a Book By George, Laura or Sarah Palin?

By Iza Wojciechowska on

All the politicians are writing books: After leaving D.C. GEORGE BUSH will watch the world undo his damage and he will write a book. But so, it seems, will LAURA. She is being highly secretive about her plans, but she’s meeting with publishing execs to discuss a seven-figure memoir. Will their stories match? Will they let each other read the drafts? Will Laura’s book inevitably outsell W’s? And even though she didn’t make it to the White House, SARAH PALIN is also eyeing a book deal. Maybe she’ll reveal details about her kids’ names. [Reuters]

And in the meantime Obama reads some poems: While GEORGE BUSH nominates cowboys for THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT OF THE ARTS, we’re giddy that BARACK OBAMA reads poetry. Or at least carries it around. He was spotted last week carrying a volume of Nobel winner DEREK WALCOTT’s collected works. Maybe he needed a break from reading comics. [UPI] … Read More

Books

Big Brother Book Club: John Grisham, Elizabeth Gilbert, Stephanie Meyers, Paulo Coelho, Michael Chabon, James Hollis and William Shakespeare

By Caroline Stanley on

Let it be known that if you live in New York, then we’re spying on what you read during your commute — and no, that free issue of AM NEW YORK doesn’t count. This morning quick reads, mysteries, and best sellers conspicuously dominated the picks of those on the 1 train that shuttles us down the west side to Flavorpill each day.

JOHN GRISHAM’s THE FIRM and ELIZABETH GILBERT’s EAT, PRAY, LOVE weren’t too much of a surprise. And, of course, STEPHANIE MEYER’s TWILIGHT — if you watch for it you’ll see one of Meyer’s novels around every corner.

Apparently, everyone is waiting with bated breath to find out if the mortal and the vampire will ever get it on. We got off the train, walked a block to work, walked toward the elevator, pressed the button and looked up only to see the same Twilight fan standing ahead of us, with thick paperback still in hand. … Read More