Books, Etc. with Lynn Carey: Michael Chabon

Pulitzer Prize winning Bay Area author Michael Chabon comes to Rakestraw Books in Danville Nov. 6th

I’ve been fairly meticulous in the books I’ve chosen for the Times Book Club the last 12 or so years.  The book can’t be a major bestseller, it has to be discussion-worthy, and it should have enough appeal for possibly hundreds of readers. That said, I have a confession to make. Two books were chosen for their titles and covers.

The first was Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood, by Rebecca Wells. Random House still credits all the Contra Costa readers for making it a best-seller.

The second was Werewolves in Their Youth: Stories by Michael Chabon. There was a picture of a scary werewolf in a T-shirt on the cover. (It figures Michael would jump on the werewolf craze a decade before Twilight.)

Short stories aren’t usually my favorite, but I loved these. And I loved Michael when I interviewed him in his office behind his Berkeley house. He’s funny, laid back, and extremely handsome. Kind of the perfect guy. His wife, author Ayelet Waldman, has famously agreed!

I remember telling him Oprah would want him on her show for his next book, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. He told me that if he got on Oprah, he’d put on a Superman suit and wash my car. As far as I know, he never got on Oprah. He did win the Pulitzer Prize for Kavalier & Clay, however.

A few weeks later, he spoke at one of my author galas at the Lesher Regional Center for the Arts. I gave him a Superman T-shirt and told him the Pulitzer is better than Oprah. But my car is still filthy.

Now Michael has written his most personal book. Manhood for Amateurs: The Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father and Son. It is autobiographical interlinked essays that reviewers say are dazzling, brilliant and hilarious. In one, for instance, he wonders whether a man should carry a purse. A murse, if you will.

I look forward to reading it because, as I said, he’s awesome. And you can bask in his awesomeness when Michael comes to Rakestraw Books in Danville Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. The event is $6 and benefits for the Danville Library. Call to get on the list: (925) 837-7337. 

For 12 years, Lynn Carey has run the Times Book Club, which now appears in the Contra Costa Times and Oakland Tribune newspapers. For the past 17 years, she's lived in Lafayette with her husband, Lamorinda Sun columnist Mike Zampa, and their two teenagers.

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