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Review
'A strikingly accomplished debut'
(Sunday Times )'His style has an enviable suppleness and fluency which offers the perfect vehicle for the moral feints and shifts of the cool crowd he portrays' (TLS )
'Hard as it is to write about youth when you're young, Chabon has done it brilliantly' (Cosmopolitan )
'Mingles wit, sex and fine writing' (Sunday Telegraph )
'His control over his story, the wonderful use he makes of each description, of Pittsburgh itself, are often astonishing...a young writer with a tremendous skill' (New York Times Book Review )
Sunday Telegraph
'Mingles wit, sex and fine writing'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Art Bechstein, fresh out of college, notices an attractive young man in the library, no sooner is he outside the library than this attractive young man, the very appealing and flamboyant Arthur is standing beside him. In addition the attentions of Arthur, Art struggles with his uncertain feelings for Phlox, the strange girl who works in the library. So begins a summer of friendships, sex and parties, and a beautiful relationship that eventually dispels any doubts Art might have had about his sexuality. Add to that the hint of gangsters and the mysterious smoke from a factory; it all contributes to captivating read.
This is a thoroughly engrossing and interesting story, beautifully written and full of vitality, wit and humour.
This is a thoroughly engrossing and interesting story, beautifully written and full of vitality, wit and humour.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book was slow to grab my attention, but once it had I was then hooked. I read it in one sitting and was pleasantly surprised at how entertaining it turned out to be. It's crammed with humour and dry wit but also has moments of great poignancy. The main character, Art, whose father is a big time gangster, gets caught up in a love triangle with his homosexual friend Arthur and a girl called Phlox. The story relates the summer that he spends trying to discover who he really is and what his true feelings are for his partners. Events reach a traumatic conclusion when his father hears about his gay relationship, and steps in to put an end to it. This is a beautifully written book, and one that I found strangely compelling.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is the tale of Art who, after finishing college, hangs around Pittsburg waiting for something to happen. Art is a bit of a trustfund baby but the source of his income is an embarrasment to him. But the life he starts to lead starts to become an embarrasment to his income...
This is a book that burns slowly but gradually builds and takes you in, along with Art, on a journey. I loved the way he develops new relationships and how he described the adulation for his new friends, his fears and his doubts. The relationships are so delicately drawn that it feels like reportage and I really liked that.
I gave it only four stars because there is a spark missing from this book. There are no sympathetic characters, the lazy days of summer - though well evoked - made me a bit lazy as a reader. I felt a little bit like Art in this book - continually waiting for something to happen, but when it did it was neither surprising nor exciting. I did enjoy the book, but I don't miss it and was glad to finish it.
I don't want to be too negative because it was a good book and it is worth reading.
This is a book that burns slowly but gradually builds and takes you in, along with Art, on a journey. I loved the way he develops new relationships and how he described the adulation for his new friends, his fears and his doubts. The relationships are so delicately drawn that it feels like reportage and I really liked that.
I gave it only four stars because there is a spark missing from this book. There are no sympathetic characters, the lazy days of summer - though well evoked - made me a bit lazy as a reader. I felt a little bit like Art in this book - continually waiting for something to happen, but when it did it was neither surprising nor exciting. I did enjoy the book, but I don't miss it and was glad to finish it.
I don't want to be too negative because it was a good book and it is worth reading.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
...unhappy families may each be unhappy after their own fashion, but...
Michael Chabon's debut novel is also his thesis and was written when he was just 21 years old. It is an accomplished, funny, coming-of-age novel that tackles bi-sexuality, not... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Eileen Shaw
Eighties were interesting in the eighties
Chabon's style is excellent, the easy-going-way to describe characters and situations is unique. Anyway the story is too much eighties and kind of no more upsetting 30 years... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Eduardo Avila
When you're young
I picked this up after seeing the trailer for the film adaption. In my copy, before you get to the story, there are a lot of reviews that praise the "expansive skill" of the 24... Read more
Published on 17 Aug 2009 by Jeremy Walton
Starter for just 3 out of 5; the best is yet to come...
I've only recently discovered Chabon, and this was only my second read after Kavalier & Clay. Given that it's his debut novel from '88, I can see how reviewers would have been... Read more
Published on 12 July 2007 by Mr. Steve Jansen
Lazy, hazy days of college
This is a great book for those of us caught up in the rat race of the working world. It takes us back to those days of college where the biggest problem in life was getting over a... Read more
Published on 12 Mar 2001 by "lodibear"
So where's the film?
If ever a book warranted a film version... This is a fntastic book; it gives off a kind of shimmering heat that the reader basks in - unfortunately for too short a time. Read more
Published on 25 Nov 1999
The most touching book I have ever opened
I found that this novel, upon reading, began to work its way into every aspect of my waking (and dreaming) mind. Read more
Published on 28 Aug 1999
Entertaining, moving....hard to put down.
Having grown up in Pittsburgh is what initially prompted me to check out this oft recommended book. Though that aspect certainly adds a nostalgic charm to it, the book is quite... Read more
Published on 1 July 1999
Breathtaking
What a wonder! What a delight! The night I spent whipping through this book was absolutely worth the next day's bleary-eyed fog.
Published on 20 Mar 1999
My favorite book of all time.
My favorite book of all time, and I don't say that lightly. This is a book with a "voice" - the characters are so compelling, and I was able to relate to them... Read more
Published on 12 Mar 1999
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