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ponycanyon's review against another edition
3.0
Is there anything more infuriating than the effete elite passionately defending their slumming? Chabon blathers on and on about how much he "really" loves that decadent lowbrow genre fiction, but his essay style is so mannered and wordy that it reads like a McSweeny's parody of such a book. Back to novels, Michael!
davybaby's review against another edition
3.0
Maps and Legends is a collection of Chabon's literary criticism, from the comic book [b:American Flagg!, Vol. 1|790396|American Flagg!, Vol. 1|Howard Chaykin|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1347415868s/790396.jpg|681889], to [b:The Road|6288|The Road|Cormac McCarthy|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320606344s/6288.jpg|3355573], to Sherlock Holmes; as well as a few essays about his own writing life and career. Even his essays on subjects about which I knew nothing and gave no shits were entertaining and well-written. In his fandoms, Chabon tends toward the fantastic and nerdy. Even when he writes about mainstream or classic literature (Sherlock Holmes, Norse mythology), he writes focuses on its similarity to "genre" writing. I get the feeling he has some buried nerdguilt about becoming a successful literary novelist when his roots are in comics and pulp.
Directly because of his essay on it, I've begun reading the delightfully strange comic strip, [b:Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer|251427|Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer|Ben Katchor|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1391846639s/251427.jpg|243638], which is pretty high praise on its own.
As anyone who's read him knows, Chabon has a lovely way with prose. It's a joy to drift in his splendid sentences, swirling along his stream of language, only buffeted occasionally by (sometimes obnoxious) unknown words or phrases. While the critical essay isn't the most lyrical of genres, Chabon does well with it. From "Golems I Have Known," he writes about his feeling from writing his first short story:
"It was as if I had opened a door and stepped into the room in which all my favorite writers were sitting around waiting for me to show up. They were a disparate bunch, from Judy Blume to Edgar Allan Poe, spread over different eras, continents and genres. Some were close kin to each other- Lord Dunsany, H.P. Lovecraft- while others seemed to have nothing in common beyond their connection to me. And somehow, I sensed, their intersection defined me. They were, in other words, my family. I derived from them, they explained me. And more than anything else I wanted- I knew it now- to be accounted one of them. This was the wish- to be a credit to that far-flung family of literary heroes- that I have sought to embody, to express in the infinitely malleable clay of language, ever since."
I don't think I could put the appeal of reading, or writing, any better than that.
Directly because of his essay on it, I've begun reading the delightfully strange comic strip, [b:Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer|251427|Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer|Ben Katchor|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1391846639s/251427.jpg|243638], which is pretty high praise on its own.
As anyone who's read him knows, Chabon has a lovely way with prose. It's a joy to drift in his splendid sentences, swirling along his stream of language, only buffeted occasionally by (sometimes obnoxious) unknown words or phrases. While the critical essay isn't the most lyrical of genres, Chabon does well with it. From "Golems I Have Known," he writes about his feeling from writing his first short story:
"It was as if I had opened a door and stepped into the room in which all my favorite writers were sitting around waiting for me to show up. They were a disparate bunch, from Judy Blume to Edgar Allan Poe, spread over different eras, continents and genres. Some were close kin to each other- Lord Dunsany, H.P. Lovecraft- while others seemed to have nothing in common beyond their connection to me. And somehow, I sensed, their intersection defined me. They were, in other words, my family. I derived from them, they explained me. And more than anything else I wanted- I knew it now- to be accounted one of them. This was the wish- to be a credit to that far-flung family of literary heroes- that I have sought to embody, to express in the infinitely malleable clay of language, ever since."
I don't think I could put the appeal of reading, or writing, any better than that.
bitters's review against another edition
4.0
My first experience with Chabon and, while there's uneven interest from piece to piece, it closes on a high note.
mrsdarcylynn's review against another edition
slow-paced
2.0
It was just boring. Two essays were somewhat interesting, all of them were pretentious. I just couldn’t with the thesaurus sentences that really didn’t say anything.
renatasnacks's review against another edition
4.0
This is a great collection of reviews/essays celebrating genre fiction, either specific works (His Dark Materials) or broad genres (superhero comics), with a bit of memoirish flavor. That Chabon's a great writer should really go without saying, but it's delightful to see him so eloquently celebrating stuff that, for the most part, I also enjoy! Huzzah!
kharri815's review against another edition
4.0
Highlights for me were the legitimizing of "genre" writing, an essay on Philip Pullman's "Golden Compass" and the final chapter called "Golems I Have Known" which seamlessly weaves together memoir and narrative fiction.
marcatili's review against another edition
4.0
Great collection of some thought-provoking essays about some great stories and story-makers, by one of my favourite fiction authors. Includes discussions of sci fi, comics, horror, and the history and worth of genre fiction in its many forms.
mobymaize's review against another edition
I thought this book was about maps and legends in books, but it seems like it's just about literary theory and criticism.
jwmcoaching's review against another edition
2.0
I love Chabon as a fiction writer. In fact, he's one of my favorites. As an essay writer, he's more of a mixed bag. It almost seems like he's trying too hard in some of these, his pretentious prose is a little much at times. I only got through half of the 16 here because the other ones just weren't that interesting. There are a couple of keepers though.