Mr. Chabon is super cool and you get to read all about it – “Telegraph Avenue” by Michael Chabon
December 12, 2012 at 10:15 pm 4 comments
“Telegraph Avenue” by Michael Chabon, Published in 2012
I will begin by saying I have not read anything else by Mr. Chabon but I do know he is beloved by the critics. Here is the thing, it is okay to not like something by a beloved author (hey, critics I am talking to you). Sometimes they mess up and just write something that is sub par. Sometimes they really mess up and write something awful. And sometimes I think they write a bunch of crap just to see if everyone will buy it. Mr. Chabon, I bought your book. You are welcome.
Reading this book was much like listening to a song when the lead guitarist gets some solo time and it starts out okay but after about 5 minutes you say, with that irritated head tilt, “really?” The somewhat main characters own a retro vinyl store on Telegraph Road, how “High Fidelity” of them. I think the point of the record store is just so Chabon can showcase his obscure knowledge of music.
Most pages in this book are so dense, I would read a paragraph, get up, do a couple of things, come back and try again. Do I really need a two page description about how to cook greens perfectly? No sir, I do not. My subscription of Bon Appetit has that covered.
Some of the characters were very interesting but the work I had to do to get to the story itself was just too much. And so I quit. After two hundred pages. What happens with Gwen’s baby? No idea. Does the record store close? No clue. Does Archie get stabbed by his business partner? I hope so. But I guess I will never know. And I am okay with that.
Entry filed under: 50 page fail. Tags: Book reviews, Books, Fiction.
4 Comments Add your own
Please let me know what you think! I like hearing from you.
Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed
1.
Claire 'Word by Word' | December 13, 2012 at 2:27 am
Not a bad thing to have a different opinion from the critics I say.
2.
Emily C | December 13, 2012 at 9:21 pm
I agree:).
3. Hitting the mediocre with commitment – “Daughter’s Keeper” by Ayelet Waldman | Reading Through the BS | December 7, 2014 at 11:02 am
[…] me start by saying early into this book I realized that Ayelet Waldman is married to writer Michael Chabon, who really has quite a lot of love for himself and is likely too cool for all of us readers. […]
4.
trinalazzara | March 21, 2019 at 2:20 am
Whoops here I go, weirdly commenting on post from 7 years ago. It’s interesting you say this because I read his book Wonder Boys a year or two ago and was also underwhelmed. I stuck it out to the end though, unfortunately. Hopefully some of his other stuff is good lol otherwise we may have a conspiracy on our hands…