Baby Got Books

Chabon in the City

The Family Cayenne saw Michael Chabon read from The Yiddish Policemen’s Union last night at the Barnes & Noble in Buckhead (Atlanta). I was sad to see that the reading was going to take place in such a “corporate” setting. When we arrived, little about the arrangement made me feel any better about it.

The reading took place in the aisle between the main floor and the childrens book area. There were 35 chairs available for the audience – I counted. We arrived a half hour before the reading, and it was standing room only. I’d estimate that about half of the audience did not have a clear view of Chabon once the reading started. Abysmal. The only good thing about the set up was its proximity to the kids area. L’il Cayenne was able to read books and play, while Mrs. Cayenne looked on from behind the podium as we deployed our “divide and conquer” strategy. For the record, that was not our child who was talking from the back throughout the reading nor the one who yelled “Daddy!” Really.

The scene in the shoe box a half hour before the reading started

I’d always thought of Michael Chabon as a literary rock star, but last night confirmed it. He was escorted into the building by two policemen who hung out for the duration of the reading. Weirdly, there was no author introduction by the book store staff. Chabon was unceremoniously dropped off at the podium. In a particularly strange moment, Chabon asked for some help adjusting the microphone and a cop jumped in to help.

Once the reading started, all of the above went out the window. Chabon spoke briefly to set up the premise of the book and then read from two sections of the book. I still haven’t started it yet, so this was my first exposure to the book. Chabon has a great reading voice, and the selected sections sounded great.

Chabon reads from YPU

The reading was followed up with some Q&A. Someone asked for more details about the contra-history setting in which the book takes place. Chabon apparently only mentions things like the nuclear bomb dropped on Berlin in passing. He replied that the historical setting was used as a backdrop for the story, since that’s what he was more interested in (as opposed to using a story as the framwork for showing off an alternative history). In Chabon’s imagining, the Alaskan resettlement of European Jews precedes the implementation of the Final Solution. Therefore the Nazis were able to spend more of their resources fighting the war since less effort goes into wiping out a generation of Jews. So the war dragged on much longer, which left the Allies with no choice but to nuke Berlin to end the war. Very interesting.

We also learned that the Mysteries of Pittsburgh movie has been completed. Sadly, the Kavalier and Clay movie is dead. He mentioned that it was to star Tobie McGuire and Natalie Portman. It had a director, it had a budget, it had a schedule – it was all ready to go. It was wiped out by one of Hollywood’s inexplicable spasms of project nixing. He had spent over five years working on the screenplay, but he is trying to be philosophical about it.

The last question came from a guy who was jumping out of his seat raising his hand who wanted to know about Chabon’s appearance on The Simpsons. My kind of guy. His appearance on the show seemed to come as a surprise to the majority of the audience. I am so glad that I didn’t yell “Shay-Bone!” from the back of the room. I may have been killed. He loved doing the show, but the show is ruined in some ways for him now. Since he has seen how the show is made, he pictures the actual people who do the voices for the characters when he watches the show. Keep that in mind when you are invited to appear on The Simpsons.

Chabon signing our book.

After the Q&A, the staff brought out a cake. It was Chabon’s birthday, and the crowd sang. That was nice. Then it was off to the signing table. Chabon signed as many books as people brought with them. The signing part of the evening was set up so that you were given a color-coded slip of paper that determined your relative place in line. That led to an unfortunate announcement, “We’re going to start with all of the white people. If you’re not white, we need you to please wait your turn.” Yipes. We were pink people.

Chabon was great. He shook hands and talked with everyone. He tried to engage L’il Cayenne in a conversation about her rain boots. Chabon signed our stack of books and we were on our way. Chabon has long been on my top five authors to see read list, so having him chat with us and take the time to draw a key while signing our copy of Kavalier and Clay was pretty special. It turned out to be a great evening in spite of the B&N setting.

Authors, Books, Happenings | Tim | May 25, 2007 10:03 am

By Beth (The Decatur One), May 25, 2007 @ 11:22 am

Excellent recap, DJ.

Wasn’t B&N a horrible place to see Michael Chabon? I guess that’s why my brain kept saying “Borders”; I couldn’t imagine it working well there. Should have been a Decatur Library or Margaret Mitchell House event.

But I’m still flying on that rockstar/writer high. Makes me want to go home tonight and write a novel.

p.s. Sorry I missed meeting the rest of the Cayennes.
By Herman Glimscher, May 25, 2007 @ 11:36 am

As a former B&N employee (not that store, though), let me say that signings are not coordinated through the store, but through the Community Relations Coordinator, who, last I knew, was based in Alabama. That’s probably why there was no one on hand to introduce Shay-bone!–the person who booked the thing was till in another state.

Sally Rogers and I saw A.S. Byatt read there about ten years ago, and I seem to remember a better set up, but they didn’t have the cash wrap area so polluted with non-book merchandise then.

“Happy birthday Shay-bone!” would have worked nicely, had the audience been a bit more savvy.
By Frank, May 25, 2007 @ 1:31 pm

Sick I missed this. And even sicker to hear that the K&C movie is a definite no-go. When I read they had cast Natalie Portman, exactly as I’d envisioned, I was so psyched and thought maybe this one would not only get done, but get done right. Ah, well, it would have to have been a classic movie to even come close to the book, which is still my absolute favorite of the last 10 years.
By Pete, May 26, 2007 @ 8:18 am

Hey DJ, I was there too! Thanks for the good report, and I couldn’t agree more with you about the venue. Crazy. I miss the ol’ Chapter 11 down the street.

As an old acquaintance of Michael’s, it was a blast to have dinner with him before the signing at One Star BBQ on Irby Street. He is a self-professed “BBQ hound” so it was his pick, though he was disappointed it was “Texas style” and not “Georgia style,” whatever that might be. His local handler was Esther Levine, who is well known in the book community. She picked him up about 6:30 and carried him to the bookstore in her Mercury land yacht. She sat with us a while and chatted at the restaurant. Of course we celebrated MC’s birthday with complimentary blackberry cobbler there!

I’ve known Michael for maybe 10 years, after “meeting” him online on a list when he was researching Kavalier & Clay. We struck up a conversation, and when he came to Atlanta after K&C was published for the Jewish book festival, we finally met in “real life.” He’s about as nice and smart a guy as you could ever meet. When I was out in Berkeley on business, he invited me over to his house for dinner. I got to meet his four kids, but Ayelet was off writing. The highlight was seeing the little cottage in the back yard where he writes and keeps his collectible books and comics. Geek heaven!

So it was great to see him again. Having dinner with him beforehand was icing on the birthday cake.

Cheers!
Pete
http://peedub.com
By Scrivener, May 26, 2007 @ 9:59 am

Hey, how come you didn’t mention my question and his response?

Agreed that the venue was terrible, but Chabon was great. He also spent some time chatting with my kids, who are the same ages as two of his. He seems like a super-cool guy.
By DJ Cayenne, May 26, 2007 @ 2:25 pm

Scrivener: So sorry…What was your question?

He did seem super cool. I was worried when it was him, the cops, and Esther coming in. It was like an entourage…
By patricia, May 28, 2007 @ 2:58 pm

Oy. SO jealous. Sounded wonderful. And REALLY bummed out about Kavalier and Clay being nixed. What a gut-wrenching disappointment that must have been for Chabon.

You should have yelled “Chay-bone!”, baby! I’m sure he would have LOVED it!!

Wish he’d come to Toronto….
By franQ, May 30, 2007 @ 12:52 pm

Hearing all this talk of the new Chabon release makes me a little sad…

A year ago, I would have been thrilled and no doubt attended his book signing. He’s been my favorite author since I first read his debut novel THE MYSTERIES OF PITTSBURGH back in the early 90s.

But I can no longer support the work of an author who has no regard for the story and characters that put him on the literary map.

In case you haven’t heard, there’s a film version of MOP coming out later this year… Written and directed by the guy who brought us DODGEBALL, in which he’s CHANGED 85% of Chabon’s original story.

And the sad part is… Michael Chabon himself APPROVED of the script! WHY would he do this? I can only think of one possible answer: $$

If you are a Chabon fan, esp MOP, I suggest you do NOT see this movie. You will be sadly disappointed at the COMPLETE removal of the gay character, Arthur Lecomte, and the fabrication of a romantic love triangle between Art Bechstein, Jane Bellwether, and a bi-sexual Cleveland Arning. And really, what is MOP without the presence of Phlox Lombardi? Alas, she’s barely in it.