Telegraph Avenue – Michael Chabon

Genre: Adult Fiction/Literary
Publisher: Harper
480 pages
ISBN: 9780061493348
Source: Publisher via TLC Booktours

Not since Kavalier and Clay have I found myself so smitten with Chabon’s work. There have been many happy times in between, for sure, but there was just something completely different and compelling about Telegraph Avenu. It made me  stop and think of the good old days. The two stories have absolutely nothing in common aside from Chabon’s exquisite storytelling. It’s a talent that cuts immediately to the philosophical and personal hearts of his characters, be they refugee adolescents or aging Californian hipsters.

Centered around two record store owners, lords of their threatened community corner-stone, as well as their wives, midwives in hot water of their own, the book takes a big chunk out of human nature and spits if back out in a fantastically brilliant satire of emotion. It’s a bit of Empire Records meets Chris Bohjalian’s Midwives but really it’s nothing to do with either one. Like all of Chabon’s previous books, if you’re looking for a plot, look elsewhere. I mean, you’ll find one, somewhere, here, but it’s not really the main force at the wheel. The characters, as usual, are the main focus and the elements of the book that will ultimately stay with the reader (at least I know they’ll stay with me) long after the last page.

Whatever the platform or context of his incredibly designed and inherently flawed characters, Chabon remains one of my favorite writers and I beg you to pick up Telegraph Avenue if he is still unknown to your library.

About Michael Chabon

Michael Chabon is the bestselling and Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, A Model World, Wonder Boys, Werewolves in Their Youth, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Summerland (a novel for children), The Final Solution, The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, Maps and Legends,and Gentlemen of the Road.

He lives in Berkeley, California, with his wife, the novelist Ayelet Waldman, and their children.

Check out the rest of the Telegraph Tour at the blogs below!

Michael’s Tour Stops

Tuesday, September 11th: Layers of Thought

Wednesday, September 12th: The Year in Books

Thursday, September 13th: Book Him Danno!

Friday, September 14th: The Scarlet Letter

Monday, September 17th: she treads softly

Tuesday, September 18th: Book Addict Katie

Wednesday, September 19th: Iwriteinbooks’s blog

Thursday, September 20th: The House of the Seven Tails

Monday, September 24th: Dreaming in Books

Tuesday, September 25th: The Written World

Wednesday, September 26th: The Feminist Texican [Reads]

Thursday, September 27th: An Unconventional Librarian

Monday, October 1st: The Book Garden

Tuesday, October 2nd: Man of La Book

Wednesday, October 3rd: The Well-Read Wife

Thursday, October 4th: Lit and Life

Friday, October 5th: Book Club Classics!