Rating: 
Summary: Chabon did it again!!!
Review: Michael Chabon did it again with his latest book, Wonder Boys. This book, his second novel, proves that Chabon has a grasp on the english language like an eagle grasps the atmosphere. His writing is both powerfully human and humanly hilarous. It's been awhile since a novel made me laugh aloud so often and with such a fluid style of writing. Wonder Boys, the story of a professor/author, his editor/friend who's into the novelty of picking up transvetites on airplanes, and one of his students, a confused talented writer who has an obsession with petty theft and suicidal movie stars, and himself, stuck in the middle of a 3000+ novel, entitled Wonder Boys. Over the three days, they all find a piece of themselves they never knew existed. What else can I say to make you want to read this? A dog, a tuba, and a boaconstrictor all end up in the trunk of a '65 army green galaxy. If you only read one novel this year, read Michael Chabon's Wonder Boys.
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Summary: Wonderful "Boys"
Review: Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Chabon deftly avoided the sophomore slump with "Wonder Boys," a followup to the unique "Mysteries of Pittsburgh." A wickedly funny and weirdly satirical novel, this is the story of a writer's frenetic midlife crisis, and the looming whale of a book that overshadows everything he does.Grady Tripp (a "wonder boy") is a onetime-lauded author who is slowly being sucked down into the quicsand of his 2000-plus-page book "Wonder Boys." The middle-aged professor is standing in the wrecks of two marriages, a stagnant career, and a pregnant married mistress. Amid his rapidly deteriorating life, he befriends a morbid young student, James Leer. Not to mention his endangered agent Crabtree, who hopes that "Wonder Boys" will salvage his career. Things go rapidly awry when James and Grady are looking at a jacket that once belonged to Marilyn Monroe. Suddenly a blind dog attacks Grady, and James shoots the dog. Grady sneaks the dead dog out of the house, unable to tell his girlfriend the truth. The sudden disappearance of the jacket, the death of the dog, and the sudden deterioration of Grady's personal life all mesh together... Chabon litters "Wonder Boys" with references to pop culture and high culture, the literati and Marilyn Monroe in the same breath. The result is even smarter than either alone would be. And despite the label of a "cool" writer, Chabon's elegant prose proves that he's more than just a wonder boy. Grady may be suffering from a hideous case of writer's block (although the result is that he actually writes too much), but Chabon clearly wasn't. He manages to grab hold what could have been a horrendously silly caper, and turns it into a wry work of art. His writing is sharp, bright and full of little points like a pinecone. Grady is not a likable guy -- he's a coward, a philanderer, and he's in the throes of a very ugly midlife crisis. But he seems real, and somehow appealing. The flamboyant gay editor Crabtree and the death-obsessed James are nice supporting characters -- Crabtree and Grady are the "wonder boys" of the past, and James is the wonder boy of tomorrow. The supporting cast -- including a perpetually sozzled author, a sultry transvestite, and a sultry boarder -- add plenty of extra flavor. Clever and incisive, "Wonder Boys" is a vivid look at aging, writing and the academic life. In his second fantastic novel, Chabon proves that he's no wonder boy -- he's just a wonder.
Rating: 
Summary: The Parties of Pittsburgh (Chapter 2)
Review: Grady Tripp is a former 'wonder boy', a talented writer-turned-professor whose promising career has been derailed by womanizing and a hard-core pot addiction. He's been 'working' on his fourth novel, "Wonder Boys", for over seven years, producing 2,600 pages but not quite reaching the halfway point of his outline. Over the course of one weekend, at his college's annual "WordFest" literary gala, his world finally begins imploding beneath the combined pressure of his failing marriage, his editor, his lover, and his students (one worries him, one wants him). Close encounters with a transvestite, a tuba, and a boa constrictor do little to ease his predicament.
As in his debut, *The Mysteries of Pittsburgh*, Chabon employs a sardonic, first-person narration and academic ('town and gown') setting (still Pittsburgh) to create an unpredictable story colored with brilliant but troubled characters, hetero- and homosexual lustings, and prevalent substance abuse. He again proves himself as an absurdly gifted writer with a superhuman vocabulary and ability to select from that embarrassment of riches the precise bon mots to enliven and enrich Grady's narrative. It's the effortless effervescence of his storytelling that captivates and draws the reader along, since--although the set-up for Grady's calamitous weekend is excellent--the unfolding structure of the novel proves uneven. (And Chabon does perhaps grow too fond of uncommon words and allusions, especially with regard to furniture and fashion.) In particular, the visit with Grady's wife and Jewish/Korean in-laws for the Passover meal is far too long and detailed, especially since none of the characters or related issues reappear once he leaves. (In this aspect, as with *Mysteries*, a more comprehensive resolution of each plot-thread would have been welcome.)
Overall, *Wonder Boys* is a brisk, light, 'literary' read with a handful of laugh-out-loud moments and genuine insights into human relationships. But until the very end, Grady proves a passive protagonist, battered every which way by his acquaintances' escapades and his pot addiction; and (perhaps as an effect of the first-person narration) we don't come to understand or identify with the supporting characters as well as we should.
A good, entertaining read--but not a great one. An impressive whirl of bright, sweet cotton candy: an enjoyable confection, if not a satisfying meal. 3-1/2 high-on-somethin' stars.
Rating:
Summary: A truly fine work of fiction.
Review: This is one of the very few books I will read over and over when there is a lull in the current crop of fiction. The characters in this book seem to spring from the page, they are so well drawn. Of course, no characters in my life were ever so witty, funny and collectively troubled. This is a wonderful book about success, the mistakes we make, and life in general. The scope is small, but that only lends an air of comfort to the story, and allows the real stars of the book, the characters, to shine.
The plot is fun, and moves briskly, and Chabon is arguably the most stylish writer out there today, so what do you have to lose?
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: I'm not going to write much here, but it's worth saying that this is one of my top ten favorite books of all time. The characters are very real, the dialog authentic, and the pacing outstanding. I loved every minute of this read, and I've read it several times now over the past few years.
Rating: 
Summary: Infuriatingly Wonderful
Review: It's hard to summarize why this book is as good as it is. Mostly, I think, it stems from the narrator's tone which mixes a gloom that things will never be what they were along with a playfulness in accepting that the past is gone. The crux of this novel is the sliding manner of the relationships between the narrator - a faded author named Grady Little, his publisher Terry Crabtree, and their student/protegée James Leer - whose suicidal exterior and studied eccentricity masks an acute talent for writing fiction. The power struggles the three engage in during a drunken writer's convention at the University of Pittsburgh result in a complete reversal of fortune for two of the three main characters (who are the titular Wonder Boys), and a general change of lifestyle for the third. Also in the mix of this frothy book are an obsession with old Hollywood starlets, a dead dog, a divorce, a pregnancy, and a transvestite clutching a tuba case. When I finished reading Wonder Boys, I was torn with admiration for Chabon's accomplishment and bitter jealousy that someone can write such a book and I can't. I won't pretend that everybody will like this novel - I can picture many of my friends disliking it. But I stand by its merits: brilliantly funny and sad, and capturing its milieu of faded academic glory superbly.
Rating:
Summary: Too long.
Review: Yes, Wonder Boys is a more mature work than Mysteries of Pittsburgh, but not nearly as good. It is the story of a college professor/author, Grady Tripp, with great talent who has been struggling for years with an ultimately unsuccessful novel (as did Chabon himself), and an unsuccessful marriage. Tripp's relationships with the women in his life are moving and funny and sad and outrageous, but unfortunately they comprise only part of the this too long novel. Whereas in Mysteries of Pittsburgh the drugs and alcohol were in the background, the reader of Wonder Boys is dragged through pages that could be of interest only to someone a little drunk himself. Whereas Mysteries of Pittsburgh was written with a light touch, Wonder Boys often seems to be trying too hard: a case in point is the transvestite character who appears in the beginning of the book and disappears, with no apparent purpose as far as I could see.
Rating:
Summary: Love the language
Review: I really enjoy Chabon's writing style and use of language. His sentences are complex in structure, not vocabulary, and hold a lot of meaning. His characters are interesting, whether you really like them or not, and hold your attention throughout the novel. This book is a very entertaining story and although it may not have a lot of the crazy, deep meaning you might find in something heavier, it is undeniably entertaining.
On a side note, I own a copy of this book without Michael Douglas' face on it. How annoying is it when a book is a movie and they stick the movie billboard or the star's face right on the cover? I definetly don't want to see Michael Douglas staring at me every time I read this book and was quite happy when I found this book in its original design.
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Summary: An irreverent look at life's rocky roads
Review: It was no surprise to see Michael Chabon ascend to the highest rank of literary achievement with the follow-up novel to his wickedly satisfying romp, Wonder Boys. Here we see the incipience of an incredibly wondrous mind, enough to fascinate casual readers with his pithy quips, and also depress aspiring writers with his seemingly facile method of laying it down on paper.
Wonder Boys is largely a satire, set within the realm of academia during a bizarre weekend at a Pittsburgh college's annual Wordfest, where faculty and aspiring writers congregate, mingle and have lectures. Grady Tripp is the man whose universe we inhabit during these ofttimes ludicrous couple of days; a fortyish, former talent who loves his pot and teaches creative writing at the university, and who is presently trapped in the dismal maw of a 2,000+ tome he has been working on for the last few years. His flamboyant and sexually indiscriminate editer Terry Crabtree has come down to visit for the weekend, and the two of them, along with James Leer, a promising young student with a penchant for classic movies of the golden age, do some incredibly hilarious and outlandish things. I don't want to spoil too much of the plot for potential readers; I believe the novel is more enjoyable if the reader has minimal knowledge and expectations--but, let me say that it was one of the funniest and most engaging novels I've read in a while.
A novel with so many zany twists and turns throughout would not necessarily be expected to deliver a stong, important message by its end, but I believe Wonder Boys--even if indirectly--does just that. Chabon masterly ties all the foibles of our addled protagonist, and tries to rationalize--or explain--either why he does these things, or what effect these vices have on him, both personally and professionally. Discerning readers might even glean little tidbits suffused throughout the novel which could give them a better understanding of what it means to write (if that's their thing), or better yet, what it means to be alive. Highly recommended for anyone who's interested in writing, or anyone who just likes to read.
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