Michael Chabon biography

Synopsis

Early Interests

Born on May 24, 1963 in Washington, D.C., Michael Chabon spent part of his childhood growing up in Columbia, Maryland, a planned community meant to promote socio-economic integration and religious diversity. His parents divorced in 1975, and with his father moving to Pittsburgh, Chabon was raised primarily by his mother afterwards. During his youth he became an avid reader of comic books and "genre" fiction while also following major league baseball, particularly admiring Roberto Clemente.

Chabon attended Carnegie Mellon before transferring to the University of Pittsburgh, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature in 1984. He went on to earn his Master of Fine Arts in writing from the University of California, Irvine. His debut novel, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, originally his master's thesis, was released in 1988 and became a New York Times bestseller.

Prolific Publishing Career

During the early '90s, Chabon released a short-story collection, A Model World, and then published his second novel, 1995's Wonder Boys; the work focuses on a professorial pothead with immense writer's block. The book was adapted several years later into an award-winning film starring Michael Douglas, Frances McDormand, Tobey Maguire, Robert Downey Jr. and Katie Holmes. Chabon ended the decade with another story collection, Werewolves in Their Youth.

Chabon's third novel, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, released in 2000, is a mammoth tale about the creation of a popular comic book superhero—the Escapist—in 1930s and '40s New York City. Kavalier & Clay dealt with a number of hard-hitting issues, including homosexuality and the Holocaust, while also featuring Chabon's wit and flair for epic storytelling; it went on to win many awards, including the 2001 Pulitzer Prize.

The following decade saw Chabon playing with writing styles to continued acclaim from general readers and critics. In 2002, he released his first young adult novel, Summerland, a fantasy tale mixed with baseball lore. And 2004 saw the release of Michael Chabon Presents: The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist, a compilation of different artists and writers presenting the Kavalier & Clay hero in a comic format. Two additional volumes followed soon after, and Chabon's novella, The Final Solution, was also published.

His next novel came forth in 2007, The Yiddish Policemen's Union, presenting an alternate history where Alaska was established as the Jewish homeland instead of Israel.