A fascinating report from Elegant Variation – who was there last night at the LAPL to hear him speak. I’m excited to read Chabon’s latest. This part really got to me:
Was originally in first person but “the main character is a bigmouth … can’t shut up … a yenta,” which worked against his wish for a simpler, Chandleresque style … He dumped the entire 660-page draft (to gasps from the audience) … which “can be hard” … he “had a sick feeling while saying goodbye – but more often than not” his stomach guides him, pointing to what’s right … Can physically feel it in his stomach when the writing doesn’t work …
LIke John Irving completely rewriting his entire latest book – going WAY over his deadline – to the dismay of the publisher who had been waiting for it – changing the point of view completely. Like: he KNOWS his craft.
This happened to Chabon before … and was the genesis of Wonder Boys (and if you’ll remember – the novelist in that book has a hard time completing his novel) … Chabon’s debut novel Mysteries of Pittsburgh was such a success, and Chabon was such a phenom – he was only 22 years old – and he started work on another book right away – and … it just … wasn’t working. He wrote and wrote and wrote – the thing was 1000 pages long. Years passed. Anyone who read Mysteries of Pittsburgh and adored it will remember how long that waiting period was. I think it was 8 years or something like that? UnSPEAKable! Mitchell and I were both like: WHERE IS MICHAEL CHABON? WHERE IS HIS NEXT BOOK??? Apparently, he was sweating it out in the trenches – writing, re-writing – until finally: he threw the whole damn thing out. He knew when to cry “Uncle”. The damn thing was not working. He gave it his best shot. But he was done working on it. And began to write another book entirely, not the one he had promised his publisher, years had now gone by … but out with the old draft of the book – and he wrote the entirety of Wonder Boys at breakneck speed.
It’s so inspirational to me.
OO! OO! OO! Thanks for finding this.
Did you also see where he said he wanted to keep the sentences short in keeping with the storytelling style, and how that would be a challenge for him? It’s really interesting how he would challenge himself that way.
Yes! To go with that noir style …
I just – God, I admire him. I love his writing so much, and I love how he’s true to himself. He doesn’t churn out replicas of his successes – he does what HE wants. And sometimes people don’t like it. But he’s willing to take that risk.
I LOVE that.
And Adventures of Kavalier and Clay is one of the best American novels i’ve ever read.
Hearing all this talk of the new Chabon release makes me a little sad
A year ago, I would have been thrilled and probably obtained an advanced reading copy. Hes been my favorite author since I first read his debut novel THE MYSTERIES OF PITTSBURGH back in the early 90s.
But I can no longer support the work of an author who has no regard for the story and characters that put him on the literary map.
In case you havent heard, theres a film version of MOP coming out later this year Written and directed by the guy who brought us DODGEBALL, in which hes CHANGED 85% of Chabons original story.
And the sad part is Michael Chabon himself APPROVED of the script! WHY would he do this? I can only think of one possible answer: $$
If you are a Chabon fan, esp MOP, I suggest you do NOT see this movie. You will be sadly disappointed at the COMPLETE removal of the gay character, Arthur Lecomte, and the fabrication of a romantic love triangle between Art Bechstein, Jane Bellwether, and a bi-sexual Cleveland Arning. And really, what is MOP without the presence of Phlox Lombardi? Alas, shes barely in it.