The Mysteries of Pittsburgh by Michael Chabon, Harper Perennial, New York, 2005The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, first novel by young author Michael Chabon, is a coming of age story that tells the tale of Art Bechstein, a recent college graduate trying to find his way the summer before entering the real world. Art I unsure of where he wants to go in life and determined to distance himself from his family. His father is a Jewish money launderer and gangster, a fact that brings Art deep feelings of shame and embarrassment. First novels are prone to issues and The Mysteries of Pittsburgh is no exception. It is clear that Chabon is still finding his voice here. The cliché opening of a twenty-something year old feeling lost in the world only expands to introduce a similar group of cliché friends. Art soon meets Arthur, Phlox, Jane and Cleveland, a group of characters who conveniently appear and take Art in for one last summer of experiences and self-discovery.tChabon attempts to liven up his so far unremarkable cast of characters by reintroducing Art’s father’s ties to organized crime into the story. The dramatic Cleveland becomes entwined in the world of crime and ultimately dies in a helicopter chase after stealing jewels. After such a bland introduction I had to reread the scene over again to make sure it had really happened. The only explanation for such a diversion from the mundane events of the previous chapters appears to be an excuse to artificially create some action and drama where there otherwise was none. Whereas other authors can blend two different tones and get away with it, the genre shifting here feels forced and out of place. The characters fail to react accordingly to the death of their friend. It adds nothing to the book. The characters all feel flat and unimportant. Instead of coming across as fully realized individuals they act more like faceless names simply existing to advance Chabon’s plot. Even Art, the character the reader is supposed to sympathize with most seems unrealistic. He engages in a relationship with Arthur which results in him questioning his sexuality, but his motives for doing so are never fully explained to the reader and it comes across as simply more conflict for the sake of plot. The story is in his voice, but we know very little about who he actually is. tAs far as first books go, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh leaves a lot to be desired, but at the same time could be a lot worse. Chabon pads out a mostly bland story about young people with pointless drama. There is promise here; if the characters had been more developed there could have been a more interesting story, but ultimately it falls short. Many of the memorable moments have less to do with characters and plot and more to do with the way Chabon captures some events. Chabon’s writing really shines in these detailed descriptions of locations or single scenes, but there are so few throughout the novel they get buried. I’d suggest trying one of his later works. The mysteries of Pittsburgh, whatever they may be, never seem to get solved in this novel.
Many folks that I know have been sucking Chabon's literary dick for a while now. I picked up Wonder Boys a few years back, and okay, yes, he's a strong writer. I'll gladly admit that the man really knows how to string a sentence together. Overall, though, I can't say that he was particularly resonant with me. The themes, the characters, even the tone of voice - nothing really rang out with genius. I thought that maybe he's only popular because he's from Pittsburgh, and most of the people I know who love him are also from Pittsburgh. His fandom is based along similar lines as Andy Warhol, the Steelers and Heinz ketchup.I tried again. Several people told me to read Mysteries of Pittsburgh after I bemoaned my directionless wandering in my post-graduate summer spent in Pittsburgh. "You should really read it. It's all about a kid who just graduated college and spent the summer in Pittsburgh." Sounds like it'd be resonant and relevant, yes? And there were definitely some weird parallels. Art is an economics major who doesn't know why he majored in economics - I feel the same way about my economics degree. Art also lived about three blocks away from where I lived, which was pretty curious. Chabon started the book after his summer in Pittsburgh as an English writing major, and I started reading his book after my summer in Pittsburgh as an English writing major. And then there were just the mention of familiar places, streets, buildings and what have you because I did go to Pitt and did live in Oakland and Squirrel Hill and it made me wonder what it would be like to read this book without knowing exactly what he was talking about. The problem is I really only knew the places he spoke of. Other than that, it still wasn't resonating, and really, it should have been! I don't understand! I feel like I am in the ripest position to understand and feel what this book has to say to me, and all it is is just a good read. Again, great writing, engaging plot, good characters, but something is missing for me. I don't know what.I think maybe Chabon is just a dude author, like Cormac McCarthy. I can recognize the greatness in both, but the style, tone, diction, themes and everything that is hard to distinctly pin down just appeals more to men. At least it seems that way based from whom I received the book recommendations.
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My fourth Chabon work in a row after having read Final Solution, Model World, and Werewolves in their Youth in the past few weeks. Thankfully, this is the last of his early works for me to read, since I don’t know how much more unpolished Chabon I can take. Mysteries is Chabon’s first published work, his master’s thesis at Cal-Irvine. The book takes place in Pittsburgh at an unnamed college, and revolves around a college student named Art Bechstein whose father is a Jewish gangster. Art meets several friends – Arthur (a gay student in love with Art), Phlox (an eccentric girl also in love with Art), and Cleveland (a wild young guy with no clear future who is involved with the mob) – and the book winds its way around their relationships to Art and to each other, while at the same time exploring Art expanding his mind and boundaries and trying to figure out who he is and what he wants. All of this takes place in the shadow of Art’s relationship to his gangster father. For a first novel, it’s well-written and you can see glimpses of Chabon’s strengths: perfectly-developed characters, natural dialogue, complex relationships. But that’s what made this frustrating for me; having read Chabon’s best works first (Kavalier & Klay & Final Solution), seeing how unpolished Mysteries is alters how much I enjoyed this book. My biggest gripes about Mysteries are in its pacing and in its protagonist. Pacing-wise, Mysteries spends way too much time (in my estimation, about 4/5 of the book) shaping the main characters, developing their interactions, and setting up the book’s climax so that when it wraps up in the final few chapters, it feels rushed. This book doesn’t have the scope that Kavalier & Klay had: hundreds of pages fleshing out decades of lives. Rather, Mysteries takes place in one summer in 300 pages; I feel like Chabon could have shortened much of the set-up and expanded the ending to even out the timeline of events. Protagonist-wise, Art is the least likable character in any of the Chabon works I’ve read. He spends far too much time crying and acting passively, which might be somewhat natural for a young kid finding himself, but I simply didn’t care for him in the least. And Art is such a critical protagonist to the story – more directly connected to everything and everyone in this book than other protagonists in other books – that if you don’t like him, the story ends up falling short, which it just does for me. Not quite recommended, unfortunately.
—Tung
I don't know. I guess i'm not particularly taken by coming-of-age stories written from the p.o.v. of rich white kids. This doesn't imply that Art Bechstein's life had no conflict, but the Real characters in this book for me were Arthur & Cleveland. I felt really trapped behind Art's dribble ESPECIALLY as he describes his job at "Boardwalk Books" & i cringed with loathing during nearly every paragraph about his stupid girlfriends.This book was compared to A Catcher in the Rye , a book i
—Jess
‘Los misterios de Pittsburgh’ fue la primera novela de Michael Chabon, y en ella se encuentra el germen de lo que es su magnífica carrera literaria. Sin ser una novela redonda, sí contiene la suficiente calidad como para convertirla en una lectura imprescindible para comprender lo que serían las siguientes obras de Chabon, sobre todo ‘Chicos prodigiosos’ y la obra maestra que es ‘Las asombrosas aventuras de Kavalier y Clay’, ganadora del Pulitzer, sin olvidar sus excelentes relatos, muchos de ellos publicados en el prestigioso New Yorker.La historia, ambientada en los 80, tiene como protagonista y narrador a Art Bechstein, que cuenta el verano que pasó al término de sus estudios universitarios, meses tras los cuáles tendrá que dar el gran paso hacia la vida de adulto y asumir responsabilidades como tal. Art, que trabaja a tiempo parcial en una librería, conocerá un día a Arthur, lo que supondrá un cambio fundamental en su vida, así como una forma de evasión frente a lo que está por venir. Pero el personaje de Art, siendo el protagonista total de la novela, no me ha interesado tanto como los secundarios: el propio Arthur, gay y al que no le importa reconocerlo; la encantadora Phlox, tan especial como su nombre, una chica que trabaja en la biblioteca y que se siente atraída por Art; Cleveland, amigo de Arthur, que vive para su motocicleta, su novia Jane y sus sueños, y la propia Jane, preocupada siempre por Cleveland y sus líos, y de la que he echado de menos algo más de protagonismo. De la mano de este grupo de amigos obtenemos una visión inteligente y emocionante, quizás algo ingenua, de lo que significa el paso a la madurez, y del que Art aprenderá a disfrutar del placer de una conversación, de la amistad sincera y del amor.Una parte fundamental de la novela es la ambigüedad sexual del protagonista, que duda constantemente entre el amor por Arthur o Phlox. Así mismo, también es importante en la vida de Art la difícil relación que mantiene con su padre, el clásico gángster, con el que cena eventualmente y de cuyo cariño y reconocimiento tiene absoluta dependencia.En resumen, ‘Los misterios de Pittsburgh’ es una novela muy bien escrita, que no hace más que apuntar en lo que se convertiría Chabon con los años: uno de los mejores escritores norteamericanos actuales.
—Oscar
