Bookends: Collected Intros and Outros

by Michael Chabon

Overview

A brilliant, idiosyncratic collection of introductions and afterwords (plus some liner notes) by New York Times bestselling and Pulitzer Prize winning author Michael Chabon—“one of contemporary literature’s most gifted prose stylists” (Michiko Kakutani, New York Times).

In Bookends, Pulitzer Prize winning author Michael Chabon offers a compilation of pieces about literature—age-old classics as well as his own—that presents a unique look into his literary origins and influences, the books that shaped his taste and formed his ideas about writing and reading.

Chabon asks why anyone would write an introduction, or for that matter, read one. His own daughter Rose prefers to skip them. Chabon's answer is simple and simultaneously profound: "a hope of bringing pleasure for the reader." Likewise, afterwords—they are all about shared pleasure, about the "pure love" of a work of art that has inspired, awakened, transformed the reader. Ultimately, this thought-provoking compendium is a series of love letters and thank-you notes, unified by the simple theme of the shared pleasure of discovery, whether it's the boyhood revelation of the most important story in Chabon's life (Ray Bradbury's "The Rocket Man"); a celebration of "the greatest literary cartographer of the planet Mars" (Edgar Rice Burroughs, with his character John Carter); a reintroduction to a forgotten master of ghost stories (M. R. James, ironically "the happiest of men"); the recognition that the worlds of Wes Anderson's films are reassembled scale models of our own broken reality (as is all art); Chabon's own rude awakening from the muse as he writes his debut novel, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh; or a playful parody of lyrical interpretation in the liner notes for Mark Ronson's Uptown Special, the true purpose of which, Chabon insists, is to "spread the gospel of sensible automotive safety and maintenance practices."

Galaxies away from academic or didactic, Bookends celebrates wonder—and like the copy of The Phantom Tollbooth handed to young Michael by a friend of his father he never saw again—it is a treasured gift.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781982606893
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	01/22/2019
Edition description:	Unabridged
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 7.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Michael Chabon is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous books, collections of short stories and essays, and a young-adult novel. Titles include Wonder Boys, which was made into a critically acclaimed film; The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, which won numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize; and The Yiddish Policemen's Union, among others.

Michael Chabon is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous books, collections of short stories and essays, and a young-adult novel. Titles include Wonder Boys, which was made into a critically acclaimed film; The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, which won numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize; and The Yiddish Policemen's Union, among others.

George Newbern is an Earphones Award-winning narrator and a television and film actor best known for his roles as Brian MacKenzie in Father of the Bride and Father of the Bride Part II, as well as Danny in Friends. As a voice actor, he is notable for his role as Superman on the Cartoon Newtork series Static Shock, Justice League, and Justice League Unlimited. He has guest starred on many television series, including Scandal, The Mentalist, Private Practice, CSI: Miami, and Numb3rs. He holds a BA in theater arts from Northwestern University.

Hometown:

Berkeley, California

Date of Birth:

May 24, 1963

Place of Birth:

Washington, D.C.

Education:

B.A., University of Pittsburgh; M.F.A., University of California at Irvine

Website:

http://www.michaelchabon.com/

Table of Contents

Meta-Introduction ix

Intros

The Wes Anderson Collection Matt Zoller Scitz 3

Trickster Makes This World Lewis Hyde 9

The Long Ships Frans G. Bengtsson 13

Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy Andrew Bolton 19

Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer Ben Katchor 35

Herma MacDonald Harris 43

Casting the Runes and Other Ghost Stories M. R. James 47

Brown Sugar Kitchen Tanya Holland 59

Monster Man Gary Gianni 65

The Sailor on the Seas of Fate Michael Moorcock 67

American Flagg! Howard Chaykin 71

D'Aulaíres' Norse Myths Ingri Edgar Parin D'Aulaire 81

"The Rocket Man," Ray Bradbury 89

John Carter of Mars: Warlord of Mars Marv Wolfman Gil Kane et al. 91

The Escapists Brian K. Vaughan 95

Summerland 105

Fountain City, excerpt 121

Outros

Fountain City, excerpt 131

The Mysteries of Pittsburgh 135

Gentlemen of the Road 145

The Phantom Tollbooth Norton Juster 151

Wonder When You'll Miss Me Amanda Davis 157

Appendix: Liner Notes

1980-1996 Carsickness 163

Uptown Special Vinyl Edition Mark Ronson 167

Editorial Reviews

10/22/2018
Pulitzer Prize–winner Chabon (Pops) presents a collection of brief but insightful essays, most of them introductions or afterwards (“outros”) to his own and others’ books. Selections from the latter category reflect his fascination with genre fiction, pop culture, and childhood, and were originally written for, among other things, a Ray Bradbury short story, the classic children’s novel The Phantom Tollbooth, an anthology of Mars sci-fi sagas, an art book devoted to superhero costumes, and a study of Wes Anderson films. In the pieces about Chabon’s own work, he is especially strong in reflecting on his writing process, for example in the foreword to his YA novel Summerland, which punctures the easy clichés authors use to explain how they find their subjects (“The whole book just came to me, like a vision, complete”). Chabon’s range of interests, though it includes room for a cookbook, will chiefly appeal to his fans and to readers fascinated by superheroes and fantasy. Some of the intros reproduced could use introductions of their own, as it is disorienting trying to find a foothold into books one has never heard of (and few readers will be familiar with every single book). Nevertheless, the essays are intelligent and entertaining, and being none too long, can be read easily and quickly. Agent: Daniel Kirschen, ICM. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

A wander along the lost avenues and borderlands of the 20th century popular imagination ... Bookends celebrates the skill of artists and writers to conjure imaginary worlds.... Ultimately, the success of “Bookends” lies in the way it demonstrates a lifelong emotional engagement with the possibilities of art, and the texts that speak to us at important moments in our lives. It traces the strange spark that arises at ‘the intersection of a wish and the tip of a pencil.’ ... Entertaining, funny and eminently readable, Bookends restores the intrinsic and illuminating role that art can play in our lives.” — San Francisco Chronicle

“The gleanings of an idiosyncratic, omnivorous human mind: a destination unto itself but also a gateway to the work of others.” — Los Angeles Times

“A collection of wide-ranging, envy-making, page-turning criticism: what it is, how it is and why it matters. Above all else, it’s an introduction to what criticism is for.” — Paste

“An intellectually waggish labor of literary love.... The erudite author celebrates science fiction, fantasy, myths, comics, ghost stories, and more, distilling his wonder of the craft of storytellers that has captivated his heart since boyhood.... A wholehearted fandom of the written word.” — Christian Science Monitor

“Insightful…intelligent and entertaining.” — Publisher’s Weekly

“Eclectic, exuberant.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Chabon, the incandescently imaginative and artful author of a dozen works of fiction…offers fresh and illuminating analysis of the various styles and intentions of forewords, an often-dismissed literary form that he turns into scintillating hybrids of literary appreciation and memoir. Chabon devotees will relish his ensnaring essays for the insights they provide into his inspirations.” — Booklist

From the Publisher

The gleanings of an idiosyncratic, omnivorous human mind: a destination unto itself but also a gateway to the work of others.

|Los Angeles Times

An intellectually waggish labor of literary love.... The erudite author celebrates science fiction, fantasy, myths, comics, ghost stories, and more, distilling his wonder of the craft of storytellers that has captivated his heart since boyhood.... A wholehearted fandom of the written word.

Christian Science Monitor

Chabon, the incandescently imaginative and artful author of a dozen works of fiction…offers fresh and illuminating analysis of the various styles and intentions of forewords, an often-dismissed literary form that he turns into scintillating hybrids of literary appreciation and memoir. Chabon devotees will relish his ensnaring essays for the insights they provide into his inspirations.

Booklist

A collection of wide-ranging, envy-making, page-turning criticism: what it is, how it is and why it matters. Above all else, it’s an introduction to what criticism is for.

Paste

A wander along the lost avenues and borderlands of the 20th century popular imagination ... Bookends celebrates the skill of artists and writers to conjure imaginary worlds.... Ultimately, the success of “Bookends” lies in the way it demonstrates a lifelong emotional engagement with the possibilities of art, and the texts that speak to us at important moments in our lives. It traces the strange spark that arises at ‘the intersection of a wish and the tip of a pencil.’ ... Entertaining, funny and eminently readable, Bookends restores the intrinsic and illuminating role that art can play in our lives.

San Francisco Chronicle

Insightful…intelligent and entertaining.

Publisher’s Weekly

A wander along the lost avenues and borderlands of the 20th century popular imagination ... Bookends celebrates the skill of artists and writers to conjure imaginary worlds.... Ultimately, the success of “Bookends” lies in the way it demonstrates a lifelong emotional engagement with the possibilities of art, and the texts that speak to us at important moments in our lives. It traces the strange spark that arises at ‘the intersection of a wish and the tip of a pencil.’ ... Entertaining, funny and eminently readable, Bookends restores the intrinsic and illuminating role that art can play in our lives.

San Francisco Chronicle

A collection of wide-ranging, envy-making, page-turning criticism: what it is, how it is and why it matters. Above all else, it’s an introduction to what criticism is for.

Paste

The gleanings of an idiosyncratic, omnivorous human mind: a destination unto itself but also a gateway to the work of others.

Los Angeles Times

Chabon, the incandescently imaginative and artful author of a dozen works of fiction…offers fresh and illuminating analysis of the various styles and intentions of forewords, an often-dismissed literary form that he turns into scintillating hybrids of literary appreciation and memoir. Chabon devotees will relish his ensnaring essays for the insights they provide into his inspirations.

Booklist

Insightful…intelligent and entertaining.

Publisher's Weekly

2018-10-28

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.

Kirkus Reviews