Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Michael Chabon's new book benefits 826 National!

Maps and Legends is Michael Chabon's first book of nonfiction. According to McSweeney's, the publishers of this collection, Maps and Legends is a "love song in sixteen parts — a series of linked essays in praise of reading and writing, with subjects running from ghost stories to comic books, Sherlock Holmes to Cormac McCarthy. Throughout, Chabon energetically argues for a return to the thrilling, chilling origins of storytelling, rejecting the false walls around "serious" literature in favor of an wide-ranging affection. His own fiction, meanwhile, is explored from the perspective of personal history: post-collegiate desperation sparks his debut, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh; procrastination and doubt reveal the way toward Wonder Boys; a love of comics and a basement golem combine to create the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay; and an enigmatic Yiddish phrasebook unfurls into The Yiddish Policeman's Union."

Thanks to Michael Chabon's continued generosity and support for 826, proceeds from Maps and Legends will benefit 826 National!