A deft parody of the American fame factory and a piercing portrait of young and old desire, WONDER BOYS is a modern classic from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of THE ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY. Grady Tripp is an over-sexed, pot-bellied, pot-smoking, ageing wunderkind of a novelist now teaching creative writing at a Pittsburgh college while working on his 2,000-page masterpiece, WONDER BOYS. When his rumbustious editor and friend, Terry Crabtree, arrives in town, a chaotic weekend follows - involving a tuba, ...
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A deft parody of the American fame factory and a piercing portrait of young and old desire, WONDER BOYS is a modern classic from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of THE ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY. Grady Tripp is an over-sexed, pot-bellied, pot-smoking, ageing wunderkind of a novelist now teaching creative writing at a Pittsburgh college while working on his 2,000-page masterpiece, WONDER BOYS. When his rumbustious editor and friend, Terry Crabtree, arrives in town, a chaotic weekend follows - involving a tuba, a dead dog, Marilyn Monroe's ermine-lined jacket and a squashed boa constrictor. A novel of elegant imagination, bold humour and undeniable warmth, WONDER BOYS firmly established Michael Chabon as a force to be reckoned with in American fiction.
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Add this copy of Wonder Boys to cart. $54.75, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Hialeah, FL, UNITED STATES, published 1995 by Fourth Estate.
As a reading experience, "Wonder Boys" is hard to describe. In places it is quite poignant, funny, alarming, and/or depressing. Then in others, I felt disgust with the childishness of the characters and the ridiculous situations into which they'd gotten themselves. Grady Tripp is a protagonist who, despite being a pathetic pothead, stymied writer, and adulterer, is honestly a nice guy who cares about other people. This in itself is a serious accomplishment; despite the aforementioned disgust at the bad decisions that lead to outlandish events and the moral reluctance to like a philanderer, the reader stays with Grady as he flails through the novel. The book is almost like a slice of life story, except that this slice of life is exceedingly bizarre, with hijinks more associated with young people who don't know any better. It's one giant comedy of errors, and for that I appreciate the crazy situations and the pathetic aspects of Grady's addictions. This might not be repeated reading for me, but Chabon made me care about a questionable narrator, and that is to be applauded.
