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Michael Chabon

マイケル・チャボン

Maikeru Chabon

Pen Names: Leon Chaim Bach（Used as a fictional scholar/persona associated with the August Van Zorn material）, Malachi B. Cohen（A fictional comics expert name used for occasional in-universe essays）, August Van Zorn（A horror/fantasy persona presented as a twentieth-century weird fiction author）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1963-05-24 （Washington, D.C., U.S.）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Judaism (Ashkenazi)
Residence History
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. → Columbia, Maryland, U.S. → Berkeley, California, U.S.

Career

Occupations
novelist, screenwriter, columnist, short story writer
Active Years
1987-
Affiliations
Elected Chairman of the Board, MacDowell (2010), Member, American Academy of Arts and Letters
Memberships
American Academy of Arts and Letters
Influenced By
Donald Barthelme, Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel García Márquez, Raymond Chandler, John Updike, Philip Roth, F. Scott Fitzgerald
Influenced
Contemporary genre-crossing writers (e.g. Jonathan Lethem and others)
Nominations
Multiple nominations (e.g. National Book Critics Circle finalist)

Education

Carnegie Mellon University
Period: 1年間在籍（編入前）
Country: United States
Attended for one year before transferring to the University of Pittsburgh.
University of Pittsburgh
Bachelor of Arts (liberal arts)
Degree: BA
Period: 転校後在学（卒業）
Year of Graduation: 1984
Country: United States
Studied under Chuck Kinder and graduated in 1984.
University of California, Irvine
Creative writing (MFA program)
Degree: MFA
Period: 大学院在学（修士）
Country: United States
Received an MFA in creative writing.

Awards

O. Henry Award (Third Prize)
1999
Work: "Son of the Wolfman"
Organization: O. Henry Award
Result: Third Prize
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
2001
Work: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
Organization: Pulitzer Prize Board
Result: Winner
Sidewise Award for Alternate History
2007
Work: The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Organization: Sidewise Awards
Result: Winner
Hugo Award for Best Novel
2008
Work: The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Organization: World Science Fiction Society
Result: Winner
Nebula Award for Best Novel
2008
Work: The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Organization: Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA)
Result: Winner
Eisner Award for Best Anthology
2005
Work: The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist (editorial project)
Organization: Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards
Result: Winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Mysteries of Pittsburgh

1988 Literary fiction (early realism)

Chabon's debut novel. A coming-of-age story exploring identity and relationships; it launched his literary reputation.

coming-of-agesexual and emotional identity
Adaptations
  • [Film] The Mysteries of Pittsburgh (film) / Rawson Marshall Thurber (2008)

Wonder Boys

1995 Literary fiction

A novel about a novelist in crisis, mixing comedy and melancholy; adapted into a film.

authorial identitycreative anxiety
Adaptations
  • [Film] Wonder Boys (film) / Curtis Hanson (2000)

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

2000 Historical fiction / Literary fiction

An epic set in 1930s–40s America following two Jewish cousins who create a popular comic book; won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize.

Jewish identityescape and creationAmerican culture
Adaptations
  • [Film/TV (optioned)] Kavalier & Clay (optioned adaptation)

The Yiddish Policemen's Union

2007 Alternate history / Mystery

A hard-boiled detective novel set in an alternate history where Israel collapsed in 1948 and European Jews settled in Alaska.

alternate historyJewish history and identityjustice and corruption
Adaptations
  • [Film (optioned)] The Yiddish Policemen's Union (optioned adaptation) / Coen brothers (option reported)

Telegraph Avenue

2012 Social novel / Literary fiction

Set around Oakland/Berkeley, it follows two families and their community; seen as a unification of Chabon's earlier and genre-driven styles.

communityrace and historyfatherhood and infidelity

Moonglow

2016 Fictionalized memoir / Metafiction

A fictionalized memoir based on the deathbed confessions of Chabon's grandfather; explores family history and memory.

memoryfamily historyJewish-American experience

Bibliography

  • The Mysteries of Pittsburgh (1988)
  • A Model World and Other Stories (1991)
  • Wonder Boys (1995)
  • Werewolves in Their Youth (1999)
  • The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (2000)
  • Summerland (2002)
  • The Final Solution (2004)
  • Gentlemen of the Road (2007)
  • The Yiddish Policemen's Union (2007)
  • Telegraph Avenue (2012)
  • Moonglow (2016)
  • Pops: Fatherhood in Pieces (2018)
  • Bookends: Collected Intros and Outros (2019)

Adaptations

  • Wonder Boys film adaptation (dir. Curtis Hanson, 2000)
  • The Mysteries of Pittsburgh film (dir. Rawson Marshall Thurber, 2008)
  • Kavalier & Clay adaptation (optioned, in development)
  • The Yiddish Policemen's Union film option (reported involvement of the Coen brothers)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
rich metaphor and complex rhetoricmixing genre (mystery, fantasy, SF) and literary fictionplot-driven, entertainment-minded prose
Recurring Motifs
nostalgiaJewish identityfatherhood and familyabandonment and renewal

Legacy

One of the prominent American writers from the late 20th to early 21st century. Praised for crossing boundaries between genre and literary fiction, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and numerous other awards, and a significant voice in Jewish-American literature.

Academic Societies

  • American Academy of Arts and Letters

Archives

  • Library of Congress (has related holdings)

In Popular Culture

  • Increased visibility in TV as showrunner/writer for Star Trek: Picard

Quotes

  • "I thought to myself, 'That's it. That's what I want to do. I can do this.'"
    Source: Recollection about a school assignment (interview)
  • "I don't want to deny the value of entertainment. I read for entertainment, and I write to entertain."
    Source: Statement from essays and interviews (2005)

Trivia

  • Created personas such as August Van Zorn and Leon Chaim Bach to extend his fictional universe.
  • Has stated he writes from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. and aims for about 1,000 words per day.
  • Married to writer Ayelet Waldman; lives in Berkeley with four children.