The Mysteries of Pittsburgh
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
|
| Author | Michael Chabon |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Paul Beacon |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | William Morrow |
| Released | April 1988 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover and Paperback) and audio cassette |
| Pages | 297 (hardcover edition) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-688-07632-7 (hardcover edition) |
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh is a 1988 novel by American author Michael Chabon. The story is a coming-of-age tale set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
It was Chabon's first novel, which he began writing when he was twenty-one years old. He continued to work on it during his tenure (1985-1987) in the Creative Writing Program of the Department of English at the University of California, Irvine, where he submitted it as his thesis for the Master of Fine Arts degree. One of his advisors, the novelist MacDonald Harris, sent it to his literary agent. It was published in 1988 and became a best seller.
A film adaptation of the novel starring Jon Foster, Sienna Miller, Peter Sarsgaard, and Nick Nolte is set for release in 2007.
[edit] Plot introduction
The novel tells the story of Art Bechstein, the son of a mob money launderer who falls into a love triangle with a charming young man, Arthur Lecomte, and a beguiling young woman named Phlox Lombardi. In the end he chooses neither, in effect affirming, without quite fulfilling, his bisexual nature. A subplot concerns the highly literate biker Cleveland Arning and his would-be career as a jewel thief.
[edit] Literary significance & criticism
Because of the book's straightforward, even playful treatment of gay love and bisexuality, Chabon was early-on identified as a gay writer. Chabon has frequently been asked if this identification concerned him; his usual reply is that he worried gay readers might feel he was being presented to them under false pretenses as one of their own.
A recently-reissued edition of the book featured an author's note in the back; entitled "P.S.", it details some of the inspiration, problems and process by which the novel was written. For example, when writing portions of the novel, he often had to balance his early-model computer precariously on an old tool table to type properly. Many fans of his work had questioned Chabon's sexuality, due to the presence of gay characters in his novels. On page twelve of the expanded notes section he reveals that, although he is currently married to a woman, he has had same-sex relations in the past.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ On The Mysteries of Pittsburgh: Essay by Michael Chabon
 |
This Pittsburgh-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 |
This article about a novel is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
