Author Talk
October 7, 2009 3:09 PM

Michael Chabon: On Life, Fatherhood, And Parenting

By
Jeff Glor
Topics
In The News
(Merkley)
Michael Chabon has won popular and literary acclaim for his novels including The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (2000) and Wonder Boys (1995), which was later turned into a movie. Now the Berkeley, Calif.-based author is turning his considerable talents to non-fiction -- specifically, a new collection of essays published this week about parenting and fatherhood called Manhood for Amateurs: The Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father, and Son. Read an excerpt from the book.


What inspired you to write this book?

This book sneaked up on me. I had written about half of the pieces in it before I realized that it was a book, or at least a book in utero. It was written in the cracks of my writing life, between novels and screenplays.

What surprised you the most during the writing process?

The very fact, as I mentioned, that I had written a book at all.

What would you be doing, if you weren't a writer?

Since I've been a would-be writer since I was in the fourth grade, and never seriously wanted to be anything else, it's hard to imagine an alternative path. I am fascinated by astronomy, gastronomy and graphic design. But writing comes naturally.

What else are you reading right now?

I am re-reading (fifth time, I think) Blood Meridian, by Cormac McCarthy. There must be something wrong with me because it's a dark, dark, harsh, grim, bloody and nihilistic work, and yet reading it always fills me with a powerful andl abiding sense of deep readerly pleasure.

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