A few weeks ago, As the Crowe Flies put out a request for people interested in doing a pre-publication read-along of Michael Chabon's upcoming novel, Telegraph Avenue. I was (am) interested, so I put my name on the list. Voila! Here we go.
For this post, Crowe requested that we simply answer a few questions before actually starting the book.
Why are you interested in this particular read-along?
My answer actually ties to the second question, which is: have you read Michael Chabon before? When The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay came out, I had no interest. I didn't care about comic books or their history, so why would I want to read a book about them? But people who like books that I like kept saying, this is a great book, you'd love it, you should read it. Finally I was all, fine, whatever, shut up, I'll read the stupid thing.
And I loved it.
So I'm predisposed to be interested in his books, and this one sounds delightful, set in the recent past (2004) in Berkeley, and described as a north California Middlemarch (you remember how much I loved Middlemarch).
The last question Crowe posed: Does Michael Chabon resemble her friend Linford? I think the answer to that is definitely yes. You decide:
Linford on the right, from Crowe's blog.
Chabon, from MLive.
There. I think I've met this week's obligations and therefore will not, as Crowe threatened, have to "attack the demon mayor of Sunnydale with hummus when I give the signal." (Kudos to Crowe for the Buffy reference.)
I'll post about the book on each of the next four Tuesdays as I read my way through all five parts of the novel. Looking forward to it!
Glad to see you're on board. I don't know anyone that read Kavalier & Clay that didn't absolutely love it. I'm hoping that Telegraph Avenue is even HALF as good!
Posted by: Brooks | July 03, 2012 at 02:42 PM
They really do look alike!
Posted by: Bookbelle | July 03, 2012 at 05:10 PM
4Ever, my only fear is that Kavalier set the bar so very very high. Hopefully Chabon will top even that.Bookbelle, I thought they were very close.
Posted by: Amy Rea | July 04, 2012 at 10:03 AM
Oh, you dug up a photo of Linford from my blog *wants to hug you for that*. You're clearly the best readalong participant, ever!
The funny thing is, Linford is a pretty fair writer himself. He's a singer/songwriter, and his liner notes and essays from the road are well-written and insightful. I wonder if Chabon can sing or play music? Makes me want to get them on stage together!
Posted by: Emily @ As the Crowe Flies and Reads | July 04, 2012 at 11:08 AM
So glad that at least one of us posted the comparison photos! Catch you next Tues. to see what Dream of Cream really means...
Posted by: Laurie @ What She Read | July 04, 2012 at 11:59 AM
Chabon looks kind of like a pretentious asshole in his picture, but maybe that's necessary for author photos. I guess we shall find out from the readalong.
Posted by: Reading Rambo | July 04, 2012 at 02:44 PM
Emily, I had to, after the Buffy quote!
Laurie, yes, I definitely saw a resemblance.
Rambo, that seems to be true of most author photos.
Posted by: Amy Rea | July 05, 2012 at 09:16 AM
Rambo, in some of his photos he looks like a total dork, but I'm with you on pretentious for this one. Darn it, I have an ARC that the guy at Micawber's gave me. what's the reading schedule? My sister saw a photo of him and his wife in a bookshop in Pittsburgh and said, "She looks like you!"
Posted by: Girl Detective | July 09, 2012 at 10:36 PM
Girl Detective, we're reading a section a week. So today I'll post about the first section. Next week is the second section, the following week is sections 3 and 4 (3 is short), and the last section the week after. Join us!
Posted by: Amy Rea | July 10, 2012 at 06:48 AM