There are the two boys of the title story, locked in their own world of fantasy and make-believe, reaching out to each other to survive the terrible prospect of fatherlessness. âHouse Huntingâ shows us the grim spectacle of a couple whose marriage is in its death throes, and whose search for a happy home is doomed; in another story a couple struggle to overcome the effects of a brutal rape. Elsewhere, a family therapist comes face to face with the dark secret of his childhood, and an American football star down on his luck makes his peace with his father. The collection culminates in a daring and wonderfully baroque horror story, âIn the Black Millâ, which chronicles the terrifying fate that befalls an archaeologist as he uncovers cannibalism and ritual sacrifice in a gloomy Pennsylvanian town.
Serious in their subject matter, yet shot through with wit, humour and compassion, these nine short stories are testament to Chabonâs ability to weave together comedy and tragedy with unforgettable results.
Michael Chabon is the author of two collections of short stories, âA Model Worldâ and âWerewolves in their Youthâ, the novels âThe Mysteries of Pittsburghâ, âWonder Boysâ, âThe Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clayâ, âThe Yiddish Policemenâs Unionâ and âTelegraph Avenueâ, and the non-fiction books âMaps and Legends and Manhood for Amateursâ. âWonder Boysâ has been made into a film starring Michael Douglas and Robert Downey Jr. and âThe Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clayâ won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. His short stories have appeared in the New Yorker, GQ, Esquire and Playboy. He lives in Berkeley, California, with his wife and their four children.