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Michael Chabon inaugurated the new academic year of Story Hour with the first chapter (and afterword) of his recent novel “Gentlemen of the Road: A Tale of Adventure.” The original title? “Jews with Swords.”
Reaching the podium, a “J” of his cursive graying brown hair casually hanging across his forehead, Chabon looked across the packed Morrison Library. “I feel like the lyrics of that Nirvana song: ‘Here we are now, entertain us.’” It was the first joke of many that would leave the audience riveted to his every word, both scripted and off-the-cuff.
He had never read from “The Gentlemen” before, having published it just several months before his latest novel, “The Yiddish Policemen’s Union.” Initially “The Gentlemen” was a serial novel staged in 14 parts of exactly to-the-tee 2,000 words, Chabon said. The work is set in the world of the Khazars, an ancient Jewish kingdom.
He opened to the first chapter, reading down into the microphone, and had his voiced affected like the teller of a ghost story or Western duel. The audience sat, enraptured, while we counted vocabulary that could quite possibly appear on our looming GRE:
* temerity, maligned, calumny, daub, exegete, adroit, japery, mendacious
* “archipelago of camel and horse turds” (OK, maybe not that one)
Needless to say, Chabon is known for his vernacular of dollar-words.
He ended his reading with a short Q&A, in which he described his humble beginnings as an 11-year-old writing about Sherlock Holmes meeting Captain Nemo. One audience member asked after a movie version of “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay,” Chabon’s Pulitzer Prize-wining novel.
“Dead shark,” Chabon said. There was a script and a cast and then the studio pulled the plug. But he did have good news. “The Yiddish Policemen’s Union” is slated with the Coen brothers as far as he knows, he offered.
The audience gasped and clapped. Once the Q&A ended, people split for the food tables and the book sale and signing. We were impressed with the compostable cups, but even more impressive was Chabon up close with his shock-blue eyes.
If only our photography skills were as captivating.
But wait, here’s the moneyshot:
Hellz yeah. You can check out the reading online through the Webcast site or search YouTube. The video should be posted within a week.
Image Source: Christine Borden
Earlier: Michael Chabon Opens, Graces Stage for Story Hour
Tags:events, fiction, Michael Chabon, reading, Story Hour
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