Maps And Legends Reading And Writing Along The Borderlands-- Michael Chabon-- Review

Maps And Legends Readings And Writings Along The Borderlands by Michael Chabon is a collection of essays. An interesting thing about this collection is that the proceeds from the book go to a nonprofit literacy organization; http://www.862national.org I think this frees the author from commercial constraints. He is also using McSweeney's an avant garde publisher. This combination allows him to have free reign with his opinions making for some very interesting writing. I enjoyed both the style and substance presented in this collection.

Michael Chabon is writing about the borders between serious literature and popular culture. For example, he describes how Cormac McCarthy's The Road remains literature despite being written as post apocalyptic science fiction in his essay, Dark Adventure: On Cormac McCarthy's The Road. Similarly, the borders are touched on in On Fan Fiction: Sherlock Holmes. Arthur Conan Doyles ambivalence about writing about the great detective is explored.

The origins of his bestselling, The Yiddish Policemen's Union comes from a traveller's phrasebook How To Say It In Yiddish. The essay Imaginary Homelands describes this process. He angered a number of people when he wrote about How To Say It In Yiddish in the periodical Civilization. This gave rise to thoughts on the urge to form a Jewish homeland and led him to write his story about a Yiddish homeland in Alaska.

Thoughts on the Death of Will Eisner, Kids' Stuff, The Killer Hook Howard Chaykin's American Flagg are all essays about graphic novels. Michael Chabon is talking about the maturation of the graphic novel as an art form. The Death of Will Eisner is a eulogy to both Will Eisner's art and his business acumen. Kids' Stuff describes how graphic novels have become an acceptable art form and at the same time have had an incredible drop in readership. The essay on American Flagg is about how Howard Chaykin turns graphic novels into works of pop art.

The writing in this collection is open and free flowing. It touches on a wide variety of subjects. All in a way are somewhat autobiographical. Michael Chabon became a writer partially because of his interests in old maps and legends. He criticisms numerous other writers in this collection including Philip Pullman, M.R. James, and Arthur Conan Doyle.

Part of the essays are autobiographical. He talks about his origins as a writer in Diving Into The Wreck. His last essay is entitled Golem's I Have Known, or Why My Elder Son's Middle Name Is Napoleon A Trickster's memoir. This essay touches on the idea of the golem, both as a story and a spiritual metaphor for deeper understanding.

I have not listed and described all of the essays in this collection. They are all unique with varying perspectives on writing, genre fiction, graphic novels and literature. I think the writer was enjoying himself when he wrote this book. There are a few single page illustrations, a daily strip of Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer, and a single panel from Howard Chaykin's American Flagg. These essays are well worth reading especially if you like genre fiction and graphic novels.

Armageddon In Retrospect-- Kurt Vonnegut, Review

Armageddon in Retrospect by Kurt Vonnegut is a posthumous collection of his work. It opens with a letter dated May 29, 1945 about his stay as a prisoner of war near Dresden. He decries what happened there.

The short stories in this collection are about war and conflict. There is nothing about peace. Many of them are set in the immediate aftermath of World War II. There is often a simple brutality to these stories. These stories are not so much about combat, but about occupation, prison camps, and the psychology of war.

In the story, Guns Before Butter, we find three American Prisoners of War discussing what food they will eat when they get home. They are so hungry, they can think of little else. In Just You and Me Sammy, we get a story about a collaborator in a German P.O.W. camp.

The stories have a biting humor to them and a degree of sadness. Kurt Vonnegut questions the motives of the firebombing of Dresden by the United States in World War II but not the overall motives for the war.

There are numerous simple drawings, almost doodles between the stories. Some are in color. One says "There should be a secretary of the future." I rather like it.

I think some of the writings were clearly meant to be published posthumously. The Commandant's Desk is an interesting story which questions patriotism and occupation. I think it would have generated quite a bit of vitriol if Kurt Vonnegut was still alive. But, he is dead so there is little that can be said.

In Kurt Vonnegut at Clowes Hall, April 27, 2007 he gives a speech. There are numerous one liners. I think it would have been better if it was heard. The speech feels like he is trying to emulate Mark Twain. In the second part of the speech, he mentions his son Mark Vonnegut is also a writer. Mark Vonnegut wrote the introduction to this book.

A number of stories are clear statements against war and political manipulation. Armageddon In Retrospect seems to make a statement about the cold war. Happy Birthday 1951 is about attempting to live free of war in a war zone.

I enjoyed reading this collection. It was very easy to read. The craft of the writing was beautiful. Not all of the stories will be for everyone, but at least a few of the stories will get you thinking about the meaning war, violence, and political manipulation.

I wrote this short review using folded in half 8 1/2 inch by 11 inch plain white paper. This is just about the size of a hardback book cover. The cover of Armageddon In Retrospect was my tablet. Like most library books it has a plastic cover over the dust jacket. I labeled each section of the paper with a circled number as I finished it. I wrote this on the train with a black ballpoint pen. I am typing it into the computer right now.