On 'The Mysteries of Pittsburgh'

There's a terrific article in the June 9 issue of the New York Review of Books by Michael Chabon: On 'The Mysteries of Pittsburgh'. In the article, Chabon talks about beginning his first novel as a recent college graduate, at the age of 21, exiled to California, far from his friends back East. He read The Great Gatsby and was certain it held the key to the novel he felt he had to write, until he picked up Goodbye, Columbus. Under the influence of both books, he sat down to write.