Robin Marx's Writing Repository

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on December 11, 2012.

The Mysteries of Pittsburgh

By Michael Chabon – Open Road Media – December 20, 2011

Review by Robin Marx

I'm not a huge fan of lit fic, and if this was by any other author I never would have picked it up. The book is about a diffident, sexually-confused youth and the tragically hip, too-cool-for-school circle of friends he's drawn into during his last summer of post-college, pre-career freedom. It's a coming of age story and a journey of self-discovery. Definitely not my usual thing, but Chabon impressed me with The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, and his willingness to admit his love for genre work has earned him a spot on my shelf as the “acceptable” lit-fic author.

As expected, the whole book was extremely beautifully written. The fact that this was Chabon's creative writing graduate project and his first novel is intimidating to aspiring writers, as he's incredibly skilled right out of the gate.

Unfortunately, the plot doesn't quite live up to the prose. There are two main plot threads here—the narrator learns about himself through interacting with his colorful new friends, and his uneasiness over his gangster father's criminal dealings—and they don't mesh as perfectly as they could. Chabon links them by having one of the narrator's friends, Cleveland, become drawn into Mafia-related dealings, but the connection between the two worlds comes late in the story and is rather tenuous, as it happens after Cleveland's interaction with the group of friends has dwindled considerably. As a result, the “clashing of worlds” the book describes is a little understated.

The bisexual love triangle at the heart of the story is more interesting (I never thought I'd find romantic troubles more captivating than an organized crime story) and sensitively rendered, and it seems that's where Chabon concentrated the bulk of his efforts. Some reviewers complain that the narrator is unsympathetic. I don't entirely agree, but I did find him to be a little fragile and theatrical for a twenty-something man, apt to turn on the waterworks at the drop of a hat. His friends are simultaneously interesting people I'd like to meet AND overwrought, tiresome hipster phonies. People like this aren't uncommon at universities, so I'm willing to chalk this up as super-realistic characterization rather than Chabon creating people that aren't as appealing as he imagined.

The ending was a bit abrupt but satisfying. Without giving anything away, I think the narrator made the best possible choice under the circumstances.

★★★☆☆

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