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The Mysteries of Pittsburgh Paperback – Deckle Edge, May 3, 2011
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"Chabon’s writing is deft and delicate — almost every page includes a delightful phrase or two. He mingles dialogue, the Pittsburgh cityscape, descriptions of the characters’ activity and Art’s thoughts and feelings to achieve that magical illusion good novels give — that the reader is living the character’s life with all its savors, jokes and pangs." — Boston Herald
The New York Times bestseller that put Michael Chabon in the pantheon of great American novelists, beautifully repackaged as a deluxe edition with French flaps and deckle edge paper.
The enthralling debut from bestselling novelist Michael Chabon is a penetrating narrative of complex friendships, father-son conflicts, and the awakening of a young man’s sexual identity. Chabon masterfully renders the funny, tender, and captivating first-person narrative of Art Bechstein, whose confusion and heartache echo the tones of literary forebears like The Catcher in the Rye’s Holden Caulfield and The Great Gatsby’s Nick Carraway. The Mysteries of Pittsburgh incontrovertibly established Chabon as a powerful force in contemporary fiction, even before his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay set the literary world spinning. An unforgettable story of coming of age in America, it is also an essential milestone in the movement of American fiction, from a novelist who has become one of the most important and enduring voices of this generation.
- Print length320 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherHarper Perennial Modern Classics
- Publication dateMay 3, 2011
- Dimensions1 x 5.6 x 8.1 inches
- ISBN-100062072234
- ISBN-13978-0062072238
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“A very daring, vivid, and exciting book.” — Cosmopolitan
“Absolutely terrific.... Anybody can write a realistic account of his first postgraduation summer of growing up and making love, but to make such a story the stuff of legend, as Chabon has done here (and Fitzgerald did before him), takes something close to genius.” — Playboy
“Astonishing.” — The New York Times
Simply, the best first novel I’ve read in years. ... It will find its place beside On the Road and Catcher in the Rye. — Carolyn Forche
A thoroughly wonderful novel. ... [It] did two things no book had done for me in a long time: it made me feel good and it took me completely by surprise. — David Leavitt
“Astonishing…. The voice of a young writer with tremendous skill as he discovers, joyously, just what his words can do.” — Alice McDermott, New York Times
“Chabon writes with unusual sensitivity. His beautifully realized characters are revealed through the perfect pitch of his dialogue.” — Denver Post
Chabon’s writing is deft and delicate -- almost every page includes a delightful phrase or two. He mingles dialogue, the Pittsburgh cityscape, descriptions of the characters’ acticity and Art’s thoughts and feelings to achieve that magical illusion good novels give -- that the reader is living the character’s life with all its savors, jokes and pangs. — Boston Herald
“Remarkable. ... What makes this book—and Chabon—worth our attentiation is Chabon has chosen not merely to record all the ills of an oversexed, overindulged generation with nowhere to go but to bed or to a bar; he has chosen to explore, to enter this world and try to find what makes it work, why love and friendship choose to visit some, deny others. — Los Angeles Times
The quiet lushness of both the concept and the language are typical of Chabon’s fresh, convincing style. What makes the novel extraordinary, however, is the exactness and care with which he manipulates such images and patterns of imagery.... Making a reader experience again a sense of endless possibility is one of the most satisfying and quintessentially American things an American Bildungsroman can do. Chabon’s The Mysteries of Pittsburgh adds to the canon one of the rare novels actually able to do it. — Village Voice
“There’s a lot of talk about this novel. It’s almost as if there’s going to be a great big literary bash. The guys who will be on the guest list are a cinch. Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn and Holden Caulfield.... And now, from The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, Art Bechstein.” — Washington Post Book World
“[A] very funny and very eloquent book—a book that both earns and wears easily such adjectives as ‘brilliant’.... The Mysteries of Pittsburgh is a funny, charming, hugely entertaining and excellently written book.” — Pittsburgh Press
From the Back Cover
The sheltered son of a Jewish mobster, Art Bechstein leaps into his first summer as a college graduate as cluelessly as he capered through his school years. But new friends and lovers are eager to guide him through these sultry days of last-ditch youthful alienation and sexual confusion—in a blue-collar city where the mundane can sometimes appear almost magical.
About the Author
Michael Chabon is the bestselling and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Moonglow and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, among many others. He lives in Berkeley, California with his wife, the novelist Ayelet Waldman, and their children.
Product details
- Publisher : Harper Perennial Modern Classics; Reprint edition (May 3, 2011)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 320 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0062072234
- ISBN-13 : 978-0062072238
- Item Weight : 10.6 ounces
- Dimensions : 1 x 5.6 x 8.1 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #4,087,336 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #10,612 in Biographical Fiction (Books)
- #29,659 in Coming of Age Fiction (Books)
- #146,909 in Literary Fiction (Books)
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About the author

Michael Chabon is the bestselling and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of seven novels – including The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay and The Yiddish Policemen's Union – two collections of short stories, and one other work of non-fiction. He lives in Berkeley, California, with his wife and children.
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"The Mysteries of Pittsburgh" is the story of four friends and their final summer after graduating college. The authentic characters, quick narrative, short dialogue, and lush Pittsburgh descriptions warrant a 5-star review.
The main character, Art Bechstein, eating dinner with his mobster father, having just broken up with his girlfriend, describes his post-college plans:
"On the way to the shining needle at the top I will wear a lot of neckties, I will buy five or six works of genius on 45 rpm, and perhaps too many times I will find myself looking at the snapped spine of a lemon wedge at the bottom of a drink." (p 9-10).
Art's working at a Bookstore, still living in Pittsburgh. And with that, the story takes off, and never looks back. The pacing and speed of this book is perfect: each chapter is 10-16 pages long, and documents a specific event over the summer. The other characters quickly fall into place, somewhat randomly, but also endearingly. Art first meets Arthur Lecomte, an older, gay student, outside the library. Arthur introduces Art to Phlox, a co-worker at the library who starts to date Art; and Cleveland, a rebel alcoholic.
Having attended college in Pittsburgh, Chabon writes great detail about the city; the city proves to be a central character in the story. As Art is riding to a party with Arthur, the driver "...made a U in the fortunately bare middle of Craig Street, and pulled, with a loud rumor of tires, back out onto the avenue." (p 24). The party they're attending is at "...a Tudur hugeness off the campus of Chatham College" where the host's father taught Farsi (p 24). Soon after the party, Art and Arthur visit their secret place:
"Between the arrogant stupid prow of Carnegie-Mellon University and the ugly back end of the Carnegie Institute, between the little shrines to Mary in the front yards along Parkview and the park itself, lies the wide, dry ravine that contains, essentially, four things: The Lost Neighborhood, the Cloud Factory, train tracks, and a tremendous amount of garbage." (p 48).
Revolving around only a few characters, the dialogue in the book is crucial, and Chabon nails it. Conversations don't seem forced; don't seem like a writer writing dialogue, but a natural interaction among early-20s youth. The short, staccato sentences seem real, like something overhead in a college library.
Alternating between stories of Phlox, Arthur, and Art is Art's tenuous relationship with his father. His father is portrayed as a nice, generous, likeable man, who Art cannot seem to connect with. Art's father, "Joe the Egg", is never fully explained, but he works for organized crime in Pittsburgh handling and investing money. References are made to truncated childhoods with family secrets, and to Art's missing mother.
The mob connections emerge as a central theme, especially as Cleveland, after episodes of animal abuse and binge drinking, turns to working for associates of Art's father. Here, Chabon loses some of the authenticity and credibility central to the book, and I wondered: was there organized crime in Pittsburgh? Was Chabon ever exposed to it? Nonetheless, wrapped up in the mob activity is Art's emotional state. A trip with Cleveland around Pittsburgh collecting money from debtors starts a back-and-forth emotional twist for Art; he explores sexual relationships with both Arthur and Phlox.
Cleveland's downward spiral ends in the book's climax: a jewelry heist gone wrong. With a run around Pittsburgh, police chase, and resolution in the Cloud Factory, the book reaches a pace normally reserved for action movies. Coming from this height, the story falls to lows of broken friendship and renewed loneliness.
Overall, the book feels real and authentic, like one could go back to a college campus, grab these characters from the library, and shake the truth from them: Phlox and her constantly changing clothing styles, Cleveland's emerging drinking problem, Art's uncertain sexual identity, and Arthur's obsession with social status.
The story is about a male in his early 20s, and his friends. They engage in a series of adventures and misadventures mostly consistent with young urban people of the age and time. I thought of it as modern “coming of age” novel. In that Mister Chabon had been a student in Pittsburgh and was of a similar age and circumstance as some of the characters, I felt there was a vague semi autobiographical aspect to the novel.
As I read this work, I felt the novel had a sort of “lost generation” feel to it. I thought of “The Sun Alao Rises”. The novel is good, but not nearly that well written. After reading the novel, and listening to an afterword by the author n audiobook, the author stated he was inspired by “The Great Gadsby” and “Goodbye Columbus”. Again, this is a debut novel authored by a young man in his early twenties. It is good, but not nearly of the stature of “The Great Gadsby”. I did like the novel almost, but not as much, as I liked “Goodbye Columbus” for whatever that is worth.
In summary I liked this novel and felt it was a very good first try at a novel. I fully intend to read more of the author’s work. I have already obtained “The Yiddish Policemen’s Union”. I seldom read the same author two books in a row, so it will be awhile before I try the next novel by Mister Chabon. Although I liked this debut novel it is not the sort of novel I would read again without specific reason. Thank You for taking the time to read this review.
The story begins with Art Bechstein settling into his summer that begins after a recent relationship has failed, opening his life to new possibilities. He becomes involved in a mix of high and low society types and feels himself drawn into their well established solar system. These early encounters bring to mind the great adventure of discovering new friendship as a young person; the shedding of childish connections and the introduction of complex, fascinating adults.
Things go off the rails when Art develops an intimate relationship with one of his companions, Arthur. It's a peculiar development, to say the least. It strains credulity. All it takes for Art's sexuality to bend is one hectic day. I'm sure others disagree but the barrier of sexuality simply isn't as porous as it's made out to be here. There's a tendency in literature to present male relationships as being so intense, they can easily turn into a sexual affair. DH Lawrence comes to mind. But I think this is more of a literary nerd's need for symbolism than a common occurrence in life - the idea that one's fascination and deep interest in someone of the same sex can become a yearning to absorb that person and have them in every way. To take things to the next level in terms of intimacy.
Not buying it. It's awkward and eyebrow raising, distracting irreparably from an otherwise brilliantly paced novel.
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Phlox in particular has a habit of the dramatic aphorism - for example: "In the church of my heart, the choir is on fire," and when asked why she is crying she says, "Because vampires are so beautiful." Art says, "I tried to keep track of her thousand quotes and citations, as though assembling a Barlett's of Phlox. My love of her was like scholarship - an effort to master the loved one's corpus, which in Phlox's case, was patchwork and vast as Africa."
This is quite a short book, (240pp) and I wished there were more of it, though I will admit that Chabon took his premises around as far as they could stretch. Chabon knows of what he speaks. He is married to a woman but admits to previous affairs with men. This novel is wholly enjoyable.
This is a book that burns slowly but gradually builds and takes you in, along with Art, on a journey. I loved the way he develops new relationships and how he described the adulation for his new friends, his fears and his doubts. The relationships are so delicately drawn that it feels like reportage and I really liked that.
I gave it only four stars because there is a spark missing from this book. There are no sympathetic characters, the lazy days of summer - though well evoked - made me a bit lazy as a reader. I felt a little bit like Art in this book - continually waiting for something to happen, but when it did it was neither surprising nor exciting. I did enjoy the book, but I don't miss it and was glad to finish it.
I don't want to be too negative because it was a good book and it is worth reading.








