A short life of the author
Michael Chabon (b. 24 May 1963) was born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Pittsburgh and Columbia, Maryland. He studied at the University of Pittsburgh and UC Irvine, where his MFA thesis became his first novel.
Life and Career
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh (1988) — his MFA thesis, about a college graduate’s last summer of freedom — was published when he was twenty-four and became a bestseller. Wonder Boys (1995) — about a marijuana-smoking creative writing professor struggling with his second novel — is his most personal and funniest book, adapted into a 2000 film starring Michael Douglas.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (2000) — about two Jewish cousins in 1940s New York who create a comic book superhero called the Escapist — won the Pulitzer Prize. It is a novel about escapism, art, the Holocaust, and the golden age of comic books. The Yiddish Policemen’s Union (2007) — an alternative-history detective novel set in a Yiddish-speaking settlement in Alaska — won the Hugo, Nebula, and Sidewise awards.
Major Works and Themes
Chabon writes about the relationship between genre fiction and literary fiction, about Jewish identity, fatherhood, nostalgia, and the redemptive power of storytelling. He is one of the most important advocates for the idea that literary fiction should embrace the pleasures of genre.
Key Works
- The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (2000)
- The Yiddish Policemen’s Union (2007)
Collecting Chabon
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh first edition (William Morrow, 1988) brings $50–$150. Kavalier & Clay (Random House, 2000) signed first editions bring $100–$300. Chabon continues to publish.