Michael Chabon has been a favorite writer of mine ever since I read Wonder Boys in 1995. Man, that is a great book! I like to say I predicted his Pulitzer Prize before The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay was even published… of course, that is quite not true, but I have been admiring his work ever since Wonder Boys, and before he received the Pulitzer Prize, I was enamored enough by Michael Chabon to tell everyone I knew that they needed to read him (after he won, it wasn’t quite necessary for me to spread the word any longer - everyone I would tell already heard of him). Maps and Legends, Chabon’s most recent work, and first book of nonfiction, has been out for a little while now, and shamefully I had yet to pick it up…Well, I was fortunate to get Maps and Legends for Christmas (my wife knows me all too well) and it was a perfect gift for this reader… and not only for this reader, this collection of essays is perfect for anyone who likes Michael Chabon, genre literature, or literary essays - this can be considered something of Chabon’s defense of those lowly art forms such as comic books, science fiction, and mysteries, and on that level it is compelling and spot on (I personally hate that such things even need to be defended and I almost feel bad for the literary elitist types who look down on such wonderful and entertaining diversions). As a mix of previously published and new material, it was a pleasure to revisit the essays I had run across before, and a joy to read the new material. Simply put, this is a fabulous book. Please, check it out, read it - enjoy it.
And on a completely surface level, this is a beautiful book. Published by McSweeney’s, who have a tendency (do you get the pun?) to publish some quality books, Maps and Legends is a book to feel and touch and look at, as well as to read. For the cover price of $24, it’ll really make you wish more publishers could put this type of workmanship into the books they publish.
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