The Mysteries of Pittsburgh

“The Mysteries of Pittsburgh” is the debut novel of Michael Chabon. It was authored in the late 1980s, when he was in his early 20s. It is set in 1980s Pittsburgh. The novel is of medium length and is mostly easily comprehended, I liked the novel, but mostly was not enthralled by it. As a native of “the burg” I thought that would cause me to enjoy the novel more than it actually did.The story is about a male in his early 20s, and his friends. They engage in a series of adventures and misadventures mostly consistent with young urban people of the age and time. I thought of it as modern “coming of age” novel. In that Mister Chabon had been a student in Pittsburgh and was of a similar age and circumstance as some of the characters, I felt there was a vague semi autobiographical aspect to the novel.As I read this work, I felt the novel had a sort of “lost generation” feel to it. I thought of “The Sun Alao Rises”. The novel is good, but not nearly that well written. After reading the novel, and listening to an afterword by the author n audiobook, the author stated he was inspired by “The Great Gadsby” and “Goodbye Columbus”. Again, this is a debut novel authored by a young man in his early twenties. It is good, but not nearly of the stature of “The Great Gadsby”. I did like the novel almost, but not as much, as I liked “Goodbye Columbus” for whatever that is worth.In summary I liked this novel and felt it was a very good first try at a novel. I fully intend to read more of the author’s work. I have already obtained “The Yiddish Policemen’s Union”. I seldom read the same author two books in a row, so it will be awhile before I try the next novel by Mister Chabon. Although I liked this debut novel it is not the sort of novel I would read again without specific reason. Thank You for taking the time to read this review.

I had no preconceptions about "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh." It popped up in a $2.02 book sale on my Kindle. I read "The Amazing Adventures of Cavalier and Klay" years ago, and remember loving the researched, nuanced knowledge of comic books. I read "The Yiddish Policeman's Union" and could take it or leave it; nothing resonated with me."The Mysteries of Pittsburgh" is the story of four friends and their final summer after graduating college. The authentic characters, quick narrative, short dialogue, and lush Pittsburgh descriptions warrant a 5-star review.The main character, Art Bechstein, eating dinner with his mobster father, having just broken up with his girlfriend, describes his post-college plans:"On the way to the shining needle at the top I will wear a lot of neckties, I will buy five or six works of genius on 45 rpm, and perhaps too many times I will find myself looking at the snapped spine of a lemon wedge at the bottom of a drink." (p 9-10).Art's working at a Bookstore, still living in Pittsburgh. And with that, the story takes off, and never looks back. The pacing and speed of this book is perfect: each chapter is 10-16 pages long, and documents a specific event over the summer. The other characters quickly fall into place, somewhat randomly, but also endearingly. Art first meets Arthur Lecomte, an older, gay student, outside the library. Arthur introduces Art to Phlox, a co-worker at the library who starts to date Art; and Cleveland, a rebel alcoholic.Having attended college in Pittsburgh, Chabon writes great detail about the city; the city proves to be a central character in the story. As Art is riding to a party with Arthur, the driver "...made a U in the fortunately bare middle of Craig Street, and pulled, with a loud rumor of tires, back out onto the avenue." (p 24). The party they're attending is at "...a Tudur hugeness off the campus of Chatham College" where the host's father taught Farsi (p 24). Soon after the party, Art and Arthur visit their secret place:"Between the arrogant stupid prow of Carnegie-Mellon University and the ugly back end of the Carnegie Institute, between the little shrines to Mary in the front yards along Parkview and the park itself, lies the wide, dry ravine that contains, essentially, four things: The Lost Neighborhood, the Cloud Factory, train tracks, and a tremendous amount of garbage." (p 48).Revolving around only a few characters, the dialogue in the book is crucial, and Chabon nails it. Conversations don't seem forced; don't seem like a writer writing dialogue, but a natural interaction among early-20s youth. The short, staccato sentences seem real, like something overhead in a college library.Alternating between stories of Phlox, Arthur, and Art is Art's tenuous relationship with his father. His father is portrayed as a nice, generous, likeable man, who Art cannot seem to connect with. Art's father, "Joe the Egg", is never fully explained, but he works for organized crime in Pittsburgh handling and investing money. References are made to truncated childhoods with family secrets, and to Art's missing mother.The mob connections emerge as a central theme, especially as Cleveland, after episodes of animal abuse and binge drinking, turns to working for associates of Art's father. Here, Chabon loses some of the authenticity and credibility central to the book, and I wondered: was there organized crime in Pittsburgh? Was Chabon ever exposed to it? Nonetheless, wrapped up in the mob activity is Art's emotional state. A trip with Cleveland around Pittsburgh collecting money from debtors starts a back-and-forth emotional twist for Art; he explores sexual relationships with both Arthur and Phlox.Cleveland's downward spiral ends in the book's climax: a jewelry heist gone wrong. With a run around Pittsburgh, police chase, and resolution in the Cloud Factory, the book reaches a pace normally reserved for action movies. Coming from this height, the story falls to lows of broken friendship and renewed loneliness.Overall, the book feels real and authentic, like one could go back to a college campus, grab these characters from the library, and shake the truth from them: Phlox and her constantly changing clothing styles, Cleveland's emerging drinking problem, Art's uncertain sexual identity, and Arthur's obsession with social status.

Even though my personal novel reading interests usually is focused on mystery, detective, military and western genres; however, I decided to read this 320-page volume (The mysteries of Pittsburgh by Michael Chabon), which is the first novel written by this author.Even though I did not grow up in Pittsburgh; nevertheless, I did grow up in big city (Chicago) and could relate to some degree to the young man, Arthur Bechstein, whose is attempting to deal with various issues and seems to be conflicted about personal aspects of his life sexually. His father is an accountant who works for the Mafia, but this is not a mob story, but just a sometimes-boring account of a young man coming of age in the city of Pittsburgh.In conclusion, I enjoyed reading this book even though I thought it was a little too long; however, if you are a fan of this author you may want to check out this first novel written by him.Rating: 4 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Never trust a politician: A critical review of politics and Politicians).

Michael Chabon’s 1988 debut novel (published when the author was only 25) demonstrates remarkable assuredness and, via the voyage of discovery of his young protagonist, the recently-graduated, Jewish bookshop worker, Art Bechstein, captures very evocatively the spontaneity, exuberance and uncertainty of youth. Narratively, Chabon’s novel is episodic and relatively unfocused, particularly early on, as Art flits between relationships and gender sexuality and we get mere hints of the shady background of his elusive father, but such transience rings true as a reflection of the often impulsive nature of growing up. The peripheral development of the criminal connections of Art’s father is perhaps a drawback, as their significance becomes increasingly apparent as the novel proceeds and in its tragic denouement. On the other hand, Chabon is particularly bold in his depiction of Art’s fluid sexuality, which comes across as heartfelt and genuine.As a platform for Chabon’s later work, The Mysteries Of Pittsburgh makes a degree of sense. The small-town, insular community angle is further matured in the superior (and much funnier) Wonder Boys, even if the connection through to the grandiose ambition of the pièce de résistance, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is rather more difficult to fathom. Chabon has purportedly cited Philip Roth and The Great Gatsby as inspirations for his debut novel and whilst Roth’s higher-profile Jewishness is rather toned down, a potential (if rather oblique) connection with the F Scott Fitzgerald did (independently) occur to me. A debut novel worth checking out, certainly.

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.

Just love Charon and this early novel holds all the promise of his later work.

A Catcher in the Rye for Generation X.Michael Chabon is funny and observant, he creates characters and lives that one cannot bear to leave alone. Devoured the whole text in days of buying it.

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 over-graphically you'll be pleased to note, but with remarkable bravery. Art Bechstein meets the eccentric and exciting Phlox through his friend Arthur, a pale, ascetic librarian with whom he has become fascinated. The story of their on and off affairs and the adventures of their other friend Cleveland, who desperately wants to be introduced to Art's father, who has mob connections, plus assembled low-life hangers-on, is entertainingly quirky and unfailingly well written, albeit with a (literal) dying fall at the end. Phlox in particular has a habit of the dramatic aphorism - for example: "In the church of my heart, the choir is on fire," and when asked why she is crying she says, "Because vampires are so beautiful." Art says, "I tried to keep track of her thousand quotes and citations, as though assembling a Barlett's of Phlox. My love of her was like scholarship - an effort to master the loved one's corpus, which in Phlox's case, was patchwork and vast as Africa." This is quite a short book, (240pp) and I wished there were more of it, though I will admit that Chabon took his premises around as far as they could stretch. Chabon knows of what he speaks. He is married to a woman but admits to previous affairs with men. This novel is wholly enjoyable.