A Model World and Other Stories

I have liked Chabon's writing for many years. Just found this delightful book of short stories. Poignant and very human. All the little details in the scenes in which the characters play out their feelings give the stories a kind of reality in which we can suspend our knowledge that it is fiction.

I love Michael Chabon. He's my favorite contemporary author, and one of my favorite writers of all time. I loved "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh," Chabon's first novel, published around the same time as these stories. This collection consists of:S AngelOcean AvenueA Model WorldBlumenthal on the AirSmokeMillionairesThe Little KnifeMore than HumanAdmiralsThe Halloween PartyThe Lost WorldThe book itself is divided into 2 sections. Everything up to and including "Millionaires" are unrelated stories, while everything after is a series of vignettes concerning Nathan Shapiro as he grows up. Overall, the first section leaves something to be desired. These stories lack any real resolution, or fitting endings for that matter. They feel unfinished, like Chabon got tired of the stories so tacked on a few paragraphs at the end to tie things up.Part two, on the other hand, is the Chabon I know and love. He still follows the same formula as before for the most part (no real resolutions) aside from the last one, but I thought that was fine here. I knew I would get to see the characters in the next story, so wrapping everything up wasn't as big a deal here.Readers might be a bit disappointed with some of stories, but on the whole they are very good. This is a must have for Chabon fans.

Makes You think.

I was shocked that some reviewers do not idolize this collection but then Melville and James are always hated by the majority of readers who are honest. Here I find the rejection even harder to bear since Chabon's prose is so intent on being joyful at the semantic and syntactic levels. He is a word dandy (like Stevens) who enjoys not just the mot juste, but the play and excitement of expression. These qualities alone would make him exceptional in world where the minimalism of paucity is mistaken for existential restraint. However he has as great a grasp of the lexicon of social expression as he does of word wealth. He is a fabulous observer and is able to register and decode more nuance in a paragraph than most in a book. The "action" then is not in the physical space but in the constant adjustments and misdirections of inter-personal association. At this, Chabon is more talented than any and all.

This was a strange collection of stories and a novella. The writing was excellent. This was my first experience with Chabon's work and it was a good one. Rarely do i find a sentence that "sings" and there were several here. My one complaint is that, although I enjoyed the situations and the appreciated the in-depth portrayal of the characters , each story seemed to end suddenly. For me, there was insufficient "closure". I wanted to know what happened next and was slightly disappointed. Nevertheless, I intend to read one or more of Chabon's novels knowing that I will enjoy how beautifully he presents the people and events.

Michael Chabon is a completely delightful and intelligent writer. Any of his books are well worth reading if one is interested in how wonderfully words can be manipulated to tell a story.

I love Michael Chabon. I like everything I have ever read that he wrote. If you haven't read The Amazing Adventures of Kavelier and Clay, do so. This book has some fine touching stories about love, love lost and relationships. Fine writing as always.

A wonderfully original story-teller, keeping the reader engaged throughout. The stories do not come to a definite end, but they end with a suggestion which engages us to think for ourselves much more deeply than any little conclusive ending could possibly inspire.

Quite interesting stories