Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published May 2018
144 pages
Genre: Essays
Publication Information
"Magical prose stylist" Michael Chabon (Michiko Kakutani, New York Times) delivers a collection of essays - heartfelt, humorous, insightful, wise - on the meaning of fatherhood.
For the September 2016 issue of GQ, Michael Chabon wrote a piece about accompanying his son Abraham Chabon, then thirteen, to Paris Men's Fashion Week. Possessed with a precocious sense of style, Abe was in his element chatting with designers he idolized and turning a critical eye to the freshest runway looks of the season; Chabon Sr., whose interest in clothing stops at "thrift-shopping for vintage western shirts or Hermès neckties," sat idly by, staving off yawns and fighting the impulse that the whole thing was a massive waste of time. Despite his own indifference, however, what gradually emerged as Chabon ferried his son to and from fashion shows was a deep respect for his son's passion. The piece quickly became a viral sensation.
With the GQ story as its centerpiece, and featuring six additional essays plus an introduction, Pops illuminates the meaning, magic, and mysteries of fatherhood as only Michael Chabon can.
"Starred Review. Deeply affecting.... Chabon is a gifted essayist whose narratives lead to unexpected and resonant conclusions. His work here packs an outsized emotional punch that will stick with readers significantly longer than it takes them to read this slim volume." - Publishers Weekly
"Starred Review. Chabon expertly weaves together past and present events, infusing them with humor, pop culture, and profound observations." - Booklist
"Combines perfect pitch of tone with an acute eye for detail...Even when he's driving at cruising speed, Chabon takes his readers for an enjoyable ride." - Kirkus
"As in his novels, he shifts gears easily between the comic and the melancholy, the whimsical and the serious, demonstrating once again his ability to write about the big subjects of love and memory and regret without falling prey to the Scylla and Charybdis of cynicism and sentimentality." - Michiko Kakutani
"Hilarious, moving, pleasurable, disturbing, transcendent, restless.... And seemingly by accident, Chabon ultimately does create a composite image of ideal manhood, one that is modest, responsible, bemused, empathic, and thoughtful." - Jeremy Adam Smith
This information about Pops was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo: Fish Fong
Novelist, screenwriter, columnist and short story writer Michael Chabon was born May 24, 1963 in Washington, DC. He grew up in the suburbs of Columbia, Maryland with his parents Robert, a physician, lawyer, and hospital administrator, and Sharon, a lawyer. His parents divorced when he was about 11, and Michael Chabon lived with his mother. He grew up reading comic books and knew from an early age that he wanted to be a writer. In 1984 he graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in English. In 1987, he received a MFA in Creative Writing from the University of California at Irvine. His master's thesis was the novel, Mysteries of Pittsburgh, a coming-of-age story about a man caught between romances with a man on one side, a ...
... Full Biography
Author Interview
Link to Michael Chabon's Website
Name Pronunciation
Michael Chabon: "Shay as in stadium and Bon as in Bon Jovi" (from the author's website)
The Stone Home
by Crystal Hana Kim
A moving family drama and coming-of-age story revealing a dark corner of South Korean history.
The House on Biscayne Bay
by Chanel Cleeton
As death stalks a gothic mansion in Miami, the lives of two women intertwine as the past and present collide.
The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu
Debut novelist Wenyan Lu brings us this witty yet profound story about one woman's midlife reawakening in contemporary rural China.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
