Talking ‘Manhood’ with Michael Chabon

My interview with Michael Chabon didn’t go so well. I felt rushed, ill-prepared and, frankly, intimidated to speak to the 2001 Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction, especially when I hadn’t read any of his novels.

Lucky for me, in addition to being brilliant and devastatingly handsome, Chabon is also charming. And we were talking about his first major work of nonfiction, “Manhood For Amateurs: The Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father and Son,” which I had, by that time, gotten about one-third of the way through. (He’ll be in town Oct. 20 for Rainy Day Books; see below for details.)

I told Chabon I had laughed out loud several times already, (See excerpt at right) and I did so throughout the rest of the book, too, even as I marveled at his facility for words. No wonder he’s considered one of the great contemporary stylists.

I’m just a few years older than Chabon, and I can relate to a lot of the things he writes about here.

Take this passage, for instance, from the chapter titled “The Heartbreak Kid,” in which he comes to terms with divorce from his first wife:

”I was by nature (whatever that means) a cheerful person, born into comfortable circumstances during a time of unprecedented plenty, free, male, able-bodied, reasonably clever, fortunate, and willing to work.”

I share (or once shared, anyway) Chabon’s evident comic-book, rock music and baseball geekdom, not to mention his Judaism.
When I tell him the book strikes me as awfully self-critical, and therefore, Jewish, he doesn’t exactly disagree.

“Certainly, in the time we just came through (i.e., the High Holidays) we are invited to engage in that,” Chabon said. “But I don’t know if it’s self-critical so much as questioning or interpreting.

“In order to seek interpretation, you must ask questions. So in that sense, I suppose it is sort of typically Jewish.”

Chabon said he had been collecting short essays “over a long period of time” and “a couple of years ago, I realized I had written a lot … circling around the questions of fatherhood and manhood, generally, and that there might be some kind of book to be found there.”

Chabon credited his editor for helping him “identify thematic strands and look for gaps or missing pieces.”
And, yeah, Chabon said, non-fiction is a lot easier to write than fiction.

“Novels take a long time,” he said. “You’re committed to work on something for several years, in my case. The nice thing about writing essays is they’re short, and you can finish them quickly.”

Chabon in town Oct. 20

When: 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20
Where: Unity Temple on The Plaza, 707 W. 47th St.
Who:  Michael Chabon, author of “Manhood for Amateurs: The Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father and Son” (Harper, $25.99). His previous books include “The Yiddish Policemen’s Union,” “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay,” “Wonder Boys,” “The Mysteries of Pittsburgh” and the story collection “A Model World and Other Stories.” He lives in Berkeley, Calif., with his wife, the novelist Ayelet Waldman, and their children.
What/How: Chabon will talk about his new book, his life, his work, answer audience questions and autograph copies of his new book purchased from Rainy Day Books. Visit rainydaybooks.com or call (913) 384-3126 for details.

An excerpt from Chabon’s essay, “The Wilderness  of Childhood”:

“The sandlots and creek beds, the alleys and woodlands have been abandoned in favor of a system of reservations — Chuck E. Cheese, the Jungle, the Discovery Zone: jolly internment centers mapped and planned by adults with no blank spots aside from doors marked STAFF ONLY. When children roller-skate or ride their bikes, they go forth armored as for battle, and their parents typically stand nearby.”

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