Criticism > Contemporary Literary Criticism > Chabon, Michael - Tom Deignan (review date February 2001)

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Tom Deignan (review date February 2001)

SOURCE: A review of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, in World & I, Vol. 16, No. 2, February, 2001, p. 213.

[In the following review, Deignan provides an overview of Chabon's literary career up to the publication of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.]

The greatest difference between Michael Chabon's latest novel, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, and his previous two is the book's grand scope. His first novel, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh (1988)—seen largely as a somewhat flawed yet undeniably impressive debut—was a coming-of-age tale, told over the course of one summer. Chabon's second novel, Wonder Boys (made into a much-acclaimed movie starring Michael Douglas and directed by L.A. Confidential's Curtis Hanson), told the story of a shaggy, aging professor whose once-promising literary career is mired in yet another bad...

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1. Introduction
2. Principal Works
3. Criticism
   1. David Montrose (review date 26 April 1991)
   2. Elizabeth Tallent (review date 9 June 1991)
   3. Kathryn Herold (review date Fall 1991)
   4. Greg Johnson (review date Summer 1992)
   5. Douglas Fowler (essay date Winter 1995)
   6. Jonathan Yardley (review date 19 March 1995)
   7. Richard Eder (review date 26 March 1995)
   8. Shelby Hearon (review date 2 April 1995)
   9. Michael Chabon with Lisa See (interview date 10 April 1995)
   10. Bharat Tandon (review date 21 April 1995)
   11. Erik Himmelsbach (essay date 27 April 1995)
   12. Roz Kaveney (review date 9 June 1995)
   13. Michael Gorra (review date 26 June 1995)
   14. Suzann Bick (review date Fall 1995)
   15. Sven Birkerts (review date January 1996)
   16. Mark Greif (review date 5 March 1999)
   17. James Hynes (review date 4 April 1999)
   18. Donna Seaman (review date 16 May 1999)
   19. Michael Dirda (review date 17 September 2000)
   20. David Horspool (review date 6 October 2000)
   21. Jonathan Levi (review date 8 October 2000)
   22. Michael Chabon with Michael J. Ybarra (interview date 9 October 2000)
   23. David Bahr (essay date 19 December 2000)
   24. Tom Deignan (review date February 2001)
   25. Tom Deignan (essay date February 2001)
4. Further Reading
5. Copyright