Michael Chabon is a celebrated name in American contemporary literature. With his debut novel, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh (1988), he earned status of an eminent writer. The major themes observed in his literary works are identity crisis, sexuality, nostalgia and abandonment issues.
Born May 24, 1963, in Washington, DC, Chabon was raised by physician and lawyer parents. At the young age of ten, when he wrote a short story as a part of a class assignment and received encouraging remarks, he realized he wanted to be a writer in future. Subsequent to his parents’ divorce, he relocated to Pennsylvania and Columbia with his mother. In one of his books Chabon even related an incident where he witnessed his mother smoking marijuana. His parents’ divorce and blatant negligence on his mother’s part play a significant role in his discussion of related subject matter in his works.
He studied at the Carnegie Mellon University before being transferred to the University of Pittsburgh, a year later. In 1984, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree and afterwards a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from the University of California, Irvine. It was during his time in the university that he started writing his first novel The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, at the age of 21. It was initially submitted as his master’s thesis but his advisor and a novelist himself, Donald Heiney, sent it to an agent without Chabon’s knowledge. Chabon received a remarkable advance of over hundred thousand dollars for his first literary work. With its publication in 1988, he rose to an exalted position of a prominent literary writer, as his novel was acclaimed as a masterpiece.
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh narrates a coming-of-age story set during 1980’s in the eponymous place. It is about a young graduate, Art, trying to juggle with his sexual orientation and his relation to a mob family that draws him closer into their dangerous world. Despite the fact that Chabon was being assumed as gay by the critics and readers, his popularity never lessened. His short story collection, titled A Model World, was published in 1991. His relentless fame even rendered him to be considered for People’s “50 Most Beautiful People” feature, which he refused to be a part of.
With the immense success of his first novel, it became more and more difficult for Chabon to write a second successful novel. It took him five years to finish the novel. Initially titled Fountain City, it followed a story of an architect but his agent rejected the novel’s scope. Having no other choice but to return the advance, he began with a different plotline inspired by his own situation. This second novel, entitled Wonder Boys, features the story of young writer with a proclivity for melodrama. It took him seven months to finish the manuscript and it was published in 1995 earning a bestseller status instantly.
In addition to fiction writing, Chabon has also contributed to the non-fiction genre. He produced two collections of essays. Essays in Maps and Legends (2008) discuss the state of modern short fiction. Whereas the other collection, Manhood for Amateurs (2010), sheds light on roles of a man as a son, a father, a husband, in all its complexity. The Yiddish Policemen’s Union (2007) is also one of his key works. The major literary influences on his work include F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jorge Luis Borges and Philip Roth. Moreover, Michael Chabon’s critically acclaimed The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction among other prestigious accolades.
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