Wonder Boys

By: Michael Chabon

Narrated by: David Colacci

Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

Chabon's extraordinary story of one turbulent weekend in the life of a struggling writer, a satire of the permanent adolescence of the creative class.

A wildly successful first novel made Grady Tripp a young star, and seven years later he still hasn't grown up. He's now a writing professor in Pittsburgh, plummeting through middle age, stuck with an unfinishable manuscript, an estranged wife, a pregnant girlfriend, and a talented but deeply disturbed student named James Leer. During one lost weekend at a writing festival with Leer and debauched editor Terry Crabtree, Tripp must finally confront the wreckage made of his past decisions. Mordant but humane, Wonder Boys features characters as loveably flawed as any in American fiction.

©1995 Michael Chabon (P)1995 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Michael Chabon is One of a Kind

I am incredibly intrigued by Chabon’s ability to step away from a story to tell a different story without ever retracting from the present story.
The only thing that kept me from staying on track as consistently as I would have liked is his signature wordiness. While I find them very admirable most of the time, I was deterred about a third of the way in by how mouthy the sentences become.
The story though is enthralling and I felt like I was as high as our narrator the entire time.

Fun and so Human

I laughed so much ! and felt like I knew these characters personally. It hurt so much when it ended, I didn't wa ant to say goodbye

Love it

What great novel of ups and down with dark humor of drama. I love it.

good performance, story feels cliche

If you could sum up Wonder Boys in three words, what would they be?

writing, failure, redemption

What was one of the most memorable moments of Wonder Boys?

the dinner with the jewish in-laws

Which character – as performed by David Colacci – was your favorite?

no idea

If you could rename Wonder Boys, what would you call it?

writing about what the author knows

Any additional comments?

Okay book...but Chabon is a writer's writer...heavy handed, solipsistic, and very literary. If you prefer brevity and books not about the incestuous faculty crowd at universities (of which, Warren's "A Place To Come To" is the best), then skip it.

Really 3 1/2 stars

The writing is excellent but the characters are so self centered, addictive and unproductive the plot becomes rather depressing.

This book is always a pleasure.

Wonder Boys is full of well developed characters in funny/serious situations.
I have enjoyed reading it several times and the audiobook is just as enjoyable.

Pretty good

I came to this by way of the film, which I love. The book is pretty good, but the film on the whole is better — tighter and more neatly finished. But I enjoyed the book a lot; it was much better than I expected it to be. The reader is excellent, and I’ll look out for more of his work

perfectly crafted look into modern academia

love this novel, and love the movie. highly recommended both, especially to anyone who works on today's "campuses" across the country. Also a work of Pittsburgh literature.

Funny and profound

This novel kept me laughing from beginning to end. Yet the travails of the main character, an author unable to find the meaning and point of the novel he’s trying to write, becomes a profound story of the struggles we all encounter in life. This is great writing.

Not my favorite

Although I finished the book, I found it hard to keep reading. Who wants a person in their life such as Grady and his friends? Drug and alcohol addiction and suicidal lying people who kill dogs