Customer Reviews
Will disappoint fans of 'Kavalier & Clay' - By: reader 451, 22 May 2008 
The story goes that Chabon composed Wonder Boys in a few weeks, after getting stuck on a 1,000 page tome. Turning his predicament around, he decided to write about being bogged down with an unfinishable 1,000 page manuscript.
I never understood why writers think writing itself, or their misdemeanours when they can't engage in it, should be of such great interest to the public. But this aside, one can't expect a work produced in a few weeks to live up to one that was matured over years; so fans of Kavalier & Clay are likely to be disappointed by Wonder Boys. The WWII, comic-book-inspired epic was a rich & deeply-felt adventure tale, but this is mostly about parties & the hangovers that follow them, & it takes the reader no further than a few miles outside the university campus. Even Chabon's normallly lush, elliptical, but evocative style is only ironic in this earlier novel. And it contains minor inconsistencies. Of course, Chabon is never boring, & he doesn't fail to amuse with anecdotes & nice character portraits. But this book seemed to me atypical & unworthy of his awesome imagination.
Mid-life crisis and writers block make a fertile ground for drama here - By: Annabel Gaskell, 11 Apr 2008 
A fine amalgam of several American themes into one, Wonder Boys successfully combines elements of the campus novel with those of writer's block & family get-togethers for holiday celebrations into one.
We follow the exploits of Grady Tripp, lecturer, adulterer, pot-head & sometime novelist, over a long weekend as his editor comes to town for a literary conference & he celebrates Passover with his separated wife's family. Added to that he's under pressure to finish his novel Wonder boys which is now running at 2000 pages. Basicallly his life is out of control, & we have a great time on the roller coaster with him. Although alll this is highly amusing, Chabon does make us sympathise with Grady, which makes this a highly satisfying & witty novel.
"Why did you keep writing this book if you didn't even know what it was about?" - By: Mary Whipple, 21 Apr 2007 In this farcical send-up of academia & the writing life, author Michael Chabon focuses on forty-ish author Grady Tripp, an aptly named writer/professor who is so often stoned that after seven years he has written two thousand pages of a book that is not even close to being finished. Grady's book, Wonder Boys, is much like his life--lacking in focus, fixated on the moment, & completely empty of goals or a sense of direction. His third wife has walked out on him; he's been carrying on a five-year affair with Sarah Gaskell, the Chancellor of the college, who is now pregnant with his baby; his editor is pressing him for a final draft of his unfinished book; & his publisher & everyone at the college are wondering if he will ever duplicate the success of his first novel.
During a writer's conference at the college, Grady "saves" one of his students, James Leer, from a possible suicide attempt, but his "mentoring" of James leads to hilariously absurd disasters for both of them. Grady's editor Terry Crabtree, the tuba-playing transvestite "girlfriend" he has brought with him, a collector of memorabilia from the marriage of Marilyn Monroe & Joe DiMaggio, Grady's estranged wife, the pregnant Chancellor, & the violent owner of a car that Grady was given to settle a debt, flesh out the characters & keep the reader amused & laughing almost non-stop.
As the weekend progresses & Grady's personal life further unravels, he finds himself driving around with the transvestite's tuba, the Chancellor's fatallly shot malamute, & an equallly dead ten-foot boa in the car's trunk. Scenes in which he tries to prevent the trunk from being opened are worthy of the Marx Brothers.
The dialogue is snappy, the narrative speeds along, the word play & humor never flag, & the satire of academic life & the world of writers shows the stamp of familiarity & the author's own wacky sense of perspective. A grand farce which carries the bite of satire, Wonder Boys avoids the arch self-consciousness of so many novels of academia & comes across instead as pure, unadulterated fun. n Mary Whipple
Seen the film? - read the book - By: Benjamin, 14 Dec 2006 
The story ostensibly centres on Prof Grady Tripp's attempts at completing his increasingly out of control follow up novel of the title, Wonder Boys; yet as is not surprising with Michael Chabon, as well as an interesting plot, it is very much about characters & relationships. Central here, in addition to Grady himself, are his editor Terry Crabtree & young student James Lear, something of a loner, as well as host of other divers characters including Grady's pregnant mistress, an adoring female student, a transvestite, a dead dog & a tuba.
The real beauty of the novel is the interaction between the various characters. Grady & carefree drug reliant Crabtree are long standing friends & this clearly comes through. Crabtree has a crush on the Grady's mysterious student, the unreliable James; Grady's beautiful student tenant has a crush on him; & Grady's third marriage is coming to an end while he pursues his mistress, the college Chancellor. His failing marriage does not prevent visiting his wife's family for Thanksgiving, & taking along James. The relationship between Grady & James is particularly well drawn; while seemingly a little detached from James, it is clear from Grady's actions & the superbly written lengthy dialogues between the two that Grady cares about James.
No one comes out of this shining, the individual characters do have their redeeming features, it would be a mistake to right them off as insincere, & one cannot help be drawn to these people for alll their human failings.
Wonder Boys is very funny, enjoyable & at times moving, but above alll it is the beauty of Chabon's writing that makes it an absolute must read. If you've seen the film you must read the book, there are, not surprisingly, differences.
a lush loll among louche lushes - By: lowell duluth, 12 Feb 2004 What I loved about Wonder Boys is its droll expansiveness, the way our narrator manages to be hilariously self-deprecating, while Chabon himself uses extended metaphor & Homeric simile (and that`s as rare as hens` teeth in the modern novel) with extravagant relish. Just as certain actors look like they`re thoroughly enjoying themselves (Nicholson, for example), Chabon reads like he`s having a great time. All this in a novel about a man who`s trying hard (not) to finish a novel - callled Wonder Boys!
This is in certain ways quite an old-fashioned novel, like a contemporary version of the 19th century picaresque tale. Oh, & it made me laugh out loud.
Pretty damn wonderful.
