Eclectic, exuberant fandom from Chabon.
The Pulitzer Prize–winning author goes his own way writing about some of his favorite books and comics.
Chabon (Pops: Fatherhood in Pieces, 2018, etc.) eagerly returns to the beloved genres of his youth in this joyous collection covering nearly 20 years of introductions, prefaces, forewords, and afterwords to adventure tales, sci-fi, ghost stories, comic books, and his own books, all written in the “hope of bringing pleasure to the reader—to some reader, somewhere.” He confesses he read Norton Juster’s The Phantom Tollbooth at least five or six times. Though it didn’t make him want to be a writer—that came later with Arthur Conan Doyle—Juster’s “world of wonders” still gives him a “tiny thrill of nostalgia and affection for the wonderful book.” Stop “reading this nonsense,” he chides, and go read the book. That advice reflects a common theme in this collection: Chabon, the fan, urging readers to read these stories. He firmly believes M.R. James’ ghost story, “Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad,” is one of the “finest short stories ever written.” He confesses that the “splendor and fragility” of Ray Bradbury’s story “The Rocket Man,” which Chabon first read when he was 10, was the “most important short story in my life as a writer.” Bradbury “gave me my first everlasting lessons in literary style.” Chabon waxes euphoric about the “remarkable artistic achievement” of Michael Moorcock’s heroic fantasy, The Sailor on the Seas of Fate, as he does about Howard Chaykin, the “craftsman, an artisan of pop,” and his experiments in comic book art. There are two pieces about Chabon’s abandoned, early “disaster,” Fountain City, one on Summerland, and one on The Mysteries of Pittsburgh and discovering his need to write in “traditional, bourgeois narrative form.” The author closes with a couple liner notes about Mark Ronson and the Pittsburgh “post-punk” band Carsickness.
Eclectic, exuberant fandom from Chabon.Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-285129-1
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Perennial/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
