Maps and Legends

In Maps and Legends, Michael Chabon proves himself to be, as always, an incredibly gifted stylist, as well as a thoughtful writer.

He has mastered that heavy, didactic, descriptive method of discourse that makes me unabashedly jealous.

Chabon is a worthy guide whose essays, like a good adventure story, take readers to new regions on the map.

My praise of Chabon's style holds true. He has mastered that heavy, didactic, descriptive method of discourse that makes me unabashedly jealous.

Maps and Legends is a miscellany; there's no getting around that. Don't come to this book expecting a coherent argument, or deep consistency.

Chabon is a worthy guide whose essays, like a good adventure story, take readers to new regions on the map.

His take on Sherlock Holmes is particularly convincing, revealing far more complexity and skill in the workings than one is accustomed to seeing.

Michael Chabon's sparkling first book of nonfiction is a love song in sixteen parts - a series of linked essays in praise of reading and writing.

Chabon is a careful guide to his favored artistic outposts, maintaining reassuring ties to more proximate lands.