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« L.A. EVENT - MICHAEL CHABON | Main | TEV GIVEAWAY (AND L.A. EVENT): ARTHUR PHILLIPS'S ANGELICA »

May 10, 2007

EVENT REPORT: MICHAEL CHABON AT LAPL

McLast night's LAPL appearance by Michael Chabon played to a completely sold out house.  He did not read from his new novel, The Yiddish Policemen's Union.  Rather, he and Kenneth Turan, clad in matching cream suits (accidental), chatted for the hour in an easygoing, familiar interview.  (The men are friends.  Turan is acknowledged by Chabon in the new novel, as he is in The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.)  We have one absolutely awful camera photo (right) and a smattering of hastily scribbled highlights from the discussion:

* On influences of "hard-boiled" fiction:   Chabon cited the influence of Raymond Chandler and Ross Macdonald ... determined that he needed an "unobtrusive conveying of information" about this alternate society, which could be handled via a detective ... He "felt strongly that I wanted to keep the sentences short," which he acknowledged is contrary to his more normal style.

* MILD SPOILER ALERT - On the genesis of the novel:  Was writing the script for Kavalier and Clay, traveling between Berkeley (his home) and L.A., staying at the Chateau Marmont and reading Chandler ... liked the structure a hotel offered and then was struck by the notion "The messiah is murdered in a hotel room" (which isn't quite how it plays out) ...

* On the difficulties of writing the book: Was originally in first person but "the main character is a bigmouth ... can't shut up ... a yenta," which worked against his wish for a simpler, Chandleresque style ... He dumped the entire 660-page draft (to gasps from the audience) ... which "can be hard" ... he "had a sick feeling while saying goodbye - but more often than not" his stomach guides him, pointing to what's right ... Can physically feel it in his stomach when the writing doesn't work ... An entire character from Kavalier and Clay - Sammy's sister - was removed after much lavish attention ... Can live with it because "There's always more where that came from." ... First draft was a "complete disaster" and chucking it was due to the notes of thoughtful editor, to which Chabon replied "The whole thing is fakakta."

* On the lack of respect for genre fiction:  Notes it's not an obstacle in film, cites the films of John Ford ... discusses Elmore Leonard who, prior to breaking out with his gangster stories, wrote westerns and "a western writer can't catch the same break." ... "Literary critics have a hard time overlooking the surface" and "struggle with 'conventions' " of genre, whereas he feels the tradition of the realistic novel - which he considers the template for modern literary fiction - is "just as confining with its own conventions."

* On the attraction of "alternative histories":  "All of us engage in thinking 'What if?' "

* On Yiddish and its influence:  Being simultaneously drawn to and pushed from Yiddish as a child ... "People who spoke Yiddish around me were doing it so they could say something behind my back." ... The new book is borne of his relationship to Yiddish, inclusion and exclusion ... Discussed a phrasebook from childhood, Say It In Yiddish: A Phrasebook for Travelers.  Compared with French and Spanish phrasebooks, "The destination was not apparent to me - but I wanted it to be."  Wrote an essay for Harpers which mentioned the Alaska proposition in passing ... Tried to write new book as thought "providing simultaneous live translation" between Yiddish and English ... Wondered "would Israel be the same place if everyone were speaking Yiddish instead of Hebrew," and discussed the pressure of a new language forced into existence.

* On Hasid crime lords in the new novel:  Purely a visual association ... invokes the famous shot from Reservoir Dogs but "add long coats and sidelocks."

* On the baggage, real or perceived, of being a so-called "Jewish writer":  He has been "working my way into the position of being a Jewish American writer without reservation" a process begun with Grady Tripp's Korean Jewish wife in Wonder Boys ...  continuing through Kavalier and Clay, with the fact that "so many of the comic creators of the '30s were Jews who were excluded from making a living as commercial artists" ... "When I'm writing I feel fine about everything," but "lying in bed at night ... I'm prey to thoughts like 'who is going to want to read about gangster Hasids?' " ...

* On Philip Roth and similarities to The Plot Against America:  "There's no experience more dispiriting than receiving bound galleys" of The Plot Against America ... "He's the master - so why does he have to write science fiction??"  Chabon also feels "his greatest period" is the The Counterlife/Patrimony/Operation Shylock era.

* On whether a film of TYPU might be made in Yiddish with subtitles a la Mel Gibson:  "It's a stretch imagining it made in English."

In conclusion, he spoke eloquently about notions of home, longing, loss (as seen through the prism of his parents' divorce) and a youthful idealism leavened with fantasy.  After which, he retired to one of the longest signing lines we've ever seen.  Mazel tov ...

Posted by TEV at 12:01 AM in Events |

Comments

Sylvia

Right on about the photo!

BlueRectangle Books

Posted by: Sylvia | May 10, 2007 at 03:00 AM

callie

Mark -- Thank you for the write-up. At the last minute, I had to miss the event but felt certain you'd be there and am so glad you were!

Posted by: callie | May 10, 2007 at 10:02 AM

Kathy

On March 31, 2007 in the quiet East Bay suburb of Pleasanton I had the extreme pleasure of attending a talk by Mr. Chabon. The event was sponsored by the Pleasanton Poetry, Prose & Arts Festival, and it was a fabulous evening. Speaking to a crowd of less than 50 in an auditorium that held probably 200, he talked for just over an hour of his life's influences, his current work, the writing process, urban planning, world affairs and family life as he wove in the reading of several poignant and very personal works of short fiction. He is a true modern-day storyteller, and it was an experience I'll never forget.

Posted by: Kathy | May 10, 2007 at 11:06 AM

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