BEDA 11: Michael Chabon

Hang on I'm listening to Accio Deathly Hallows.
Yeah Accio Deahtly Hallows, Incendio book sales embargos, it'll be like Phoenix tears on a broken nose! Ohhh Accioooo Deahtly Hallows.
Okay it's over.

In the midst of the Harry Potter, Saga-Ending Movie Madness, I stopped everything I was doing to re-read the last three books (I had re-read the first three over Winter Break). Among the everything that was stopped was my reading of the book Manhood for Amateurs by Michael Chabon. This is my second book by Michael Chabon, the first being The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, which immediately earned its place among my Favorite Books of All Time. It is AH-MAZING and everyone should read it. Anyway, after I finished my Harry Potter Madness re-read, I got back to Manhood for Amateurs and I just want to gush about my love for this man.

The first time I had heard anything about Michael Chabon was from, who else but John Green. I remember him mentioning him a few times on his blog, back when he kept up with his blog regularly. For some reason, I was totally and completely intimidated by Michael Chabon. Probably because one of the people to whom I look up to the most holds him in such high regard, and his book covers are just so EPIC looking.... I was afraid I would attempt to read his work and either fail or hate it. And I couldn't stand the idea of hating something that John Green loved, because he is such a big influence on my life and my hating something he liked would somehow jeopardize the validity of his influence. I don't know. I'm crazy.

However, I most certainly do NOT hate Michael Chabon. I love him. I LOVE HIM. Well, his writing, at least. Although... after reading the majority of Manhood for Amateurs (I have forty pages left), which is a collection of essays about his life as a, well, man, I think that, while I perhaps don't love him, I do really like him. I see a lot of myself in him, if that makes sense.... Whenever I say "He feels the same as me about a lot of things" I feel like I don't get my point across.... He sees the world in a lot of the same ways as I do. (That's kind of better.) His writing is absolute genius, on top of it all. I feel like reading his work makes me a smarter human being, unlike other books. (Hector and the Search for Happiness pops into my head, for some reason....) He is an absolute joy to read and I regret having been so intimidated because that meant it took me this long to pick up one of his books. And I am so much better for having done so.

Days until I go back to Seattle: 12
Days until school starts: 18