The Mysteries of Pittsburgh

Last updated

The Mysteries of Pittsburgh
Mystpittscvr.jpg
First edition cover
Author Michael Chabon
Cover artist Paul Bacon
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreNovel
Publisher William Morrow and Company
Publication date
April 1988
Media typePrint (hardback & paperback) and audio cassette
Pages297 (hardcover edition)
ISBN 0-688-07632-7 (hardcover edition)
OCLC 17108799
813/.54 19
LC Class PS3553.H15 M97 1988

The Mysteries of Pittsburgh is a 1988 novel by American author Michael Chabon. It is a coming-of-age tale set during the early 1980s in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Contents

It was Chabon's first novel, which he began writing as a 21-year-old undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh. He continued to work on it during his studies (1985–87) in the Creative Writing Program of the Department of English at the University of California, Irvine, where he submitted it as his thesis for the Master of Fine Arts degree. One of his advisors, the novelist MacDonald Harris, sent it to his literary agent. It was published in 1988 and became a bestseller.

A film adaptation starring Jon Foster, Sienna Miller, Peter Sarsgaard, and Nick Nolte was released in 2009.

Plot summary

Art Bechstein is the son of a mob money launderer, who wants him to succeed in a legitimate career. (He has even set up a job for him at the end of the summer in Baltimore at a financial firm managed by one of his old friends.) When Art graduates from the University of Pittsburgh, he has only a vague hope for a summer of adventure before he commits to the rest of his life. Bechstein almost immediately meets a charming young gay gentleman, Arthur Lecomte, and his friend, a highly literate biker, Cleveland Arning, who become his partners in many summer adventures. Art begins a relationship with an insecure young woman named Phlox Lombardi. As Art's attraction to Arthur grows, it destabilizes both relationships and reveals he may be bisexual. Art is also troubled when Cleveland begins moving deeper into the city's organized crime families, drawing him closer to his father's dangerous mob connections. Art's relationships with his dad, friends, and lovers become more and more entangled, causing a series of fallings out and unforeseen consequences.

Settings

The novel takes place during summer. It begins in April, just after Bechstein has finished his four-year undergraduate education at the University of Pittsburgh. Specific settings include Carnegie Mellon University, Chatham College, Hillman Library, Lake Erie, Presbyterian University Hospital, Schenley Park, Schenley Bridge, and the Pittsburgh neighborhoods of Oakland, Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, Downtown, Mount Washington, East Liberty, Fox Chapel, and Highland Park. A boiler plant, informally labeled The Cloud Factory, located in Junction Hollow between Carnegie Mellon University and the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, plays a special role in the novel.

Literary significance and criticism

Because of the book's straightforward, even playful, treatment of gay love and bisexuality, Chabon was early-on identified as a gay writer. He has frequently been asked if this identification concerned him; his usual reply is that he worries that gay readers might feel he was being presented to them, under false pretenses, as one of their own.

A recently reissued edition featured an Author's Note entitled "P.S.", which details some of the novel's inspiration, problems, and process. For example, he often had to balance his early-model computer precariously on an old tool table. Many fans of his work asked about Chabon's sexuality, because of the gay characters in his novels. On page 12 of the expanded Notes section, he reveals that, although he is currently married to a woman, he has had same-sex relationships in the past. [1] He also describes some of his inspirations, crediting experiences with Marcel Proust, The Great Gatsby , and Philip Roth as encouraging him to write.

See also

Related Research Articles

Carnegie Mellon University Private university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1900, the university is a merger of the Carnegie Institute of Technology and the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research.

Michael Chabon American author and Pulitzer Prize winner

Michael Chabon is an American novelist, screenwriter, columnist and short story writer. Born in Washington, DC, he spent a year studying at Carnegie Mellon University before transferring to the University of Pittsburgh, graduating in 1984. He subsequently received a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from the University of California, Irvine.

University of Pittsburgh American public university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The University of Pittsburgh, familiarly known as Pitt, is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the university's central administration and 28,391 undergraduate and graduate students. The 132-acre Pittsburgh campus includes various historic buildings that are part of the Schenley Farms Historic District, most notably its 42-story Gothic revival centerpiece, the Cathedral of Learning. Pitt is a member of the Association of American Universities, a selective group of major research universities in North America, and is classified as an R1 University, meaning that it engages in a very high level of research activity. Pitt was the third-largest recipient of federally sponsored health research funding among U.S. universities in 2018 and it is a major recipient of research funding from the National Institutes of Health. According to the National Science Foundation, Pitt spent $1.0 billion on research and development in 2018, ranking it 14th in the nation. It is the second-largest non-government employer in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The university also operates four undergraduate branch campuses in Western Pennsylvania, located in Bradford, Greensburg, Johnstown, and Titusville.

Presidents Athletic Conference

The Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) is an athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Of its 10 current member schools, all private, liberal arts institutions of higher learning, eight are located in Western Pennsylvania. The other two are located in areas adjacent and historically tied to Western Pennsylvania—Appalachian Ohio and the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia.

Oakland (Pittsburgh) Place in Pennsylvania, United States

Oakland is the academic and healthcare center of Pittsburgh and one of the city's major cultural centers. The neighborhood is home to three universities, museums, and hospitals, as well as an abundance of shopping, restaurants, and recreational activities. Oakland is home to the Schenley Farms National Historic District which encompasses two city designated historic districts: the mostly residential Schenley Farms Historic District and the predominantly institutional Oakland Civic Center Historic District. It is also home to the locally designated Oakland Square Historic District. The Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire has Fire Station No. 14 on McKee Place and Fire Station No. 10 on Allequippa Street in Oakland.

Schenley Park Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Schenley Park is a large municipal park located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, between the neighborhoods of Oakland, Greenfield, and Squirrel Hill. It is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district. In 2011, the park was named one of "America's Coolest City Parks" by Travel + Leisure.

Carnegie Mellon University is home to a variety of unique traditions, some of which date back to the early days of its over 100-year history. Many of these traditions hearken to the university's strength in engineering, such as the buggy races and the mobots, while others are purely social in nature, such as Spring Carnival and The Fence.

Henry Hornbostel American architect

Henry Hornbostel was an American architect and educator. Hornbostel designed more than 225 buildings, bridges, and monuments in the United States. Twenty-two of his designs are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Oakland City Hall in Oakland, California and the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum and University Club in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

<i>The Mysteries of Pittsburgh</i> (film) 2008 American film

The Mysteries of Pittsburgh is a 2008 comedy-drama film based on Michael Chabon's 1988 novel of the same name. The film was written and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber. It was produced by Michael London and executive produced by Omar Amanat. Shooting in Pittsburgh ended in October 2006, with the film set for release in 2008. It made its world premiere in January 2008 at the Sundance Film Festival. Set in 1980s Pittsburgh, the film follows the affairs of two young men with one woman, and later also with each other.

Charles Alfonso Kinder II was an American novelist.

<i>Stephen Foster</i> (sculpture) Sculpture by Giuseppe Moretti

Stephen Foster is a landmark public sculpture in bronze by Giuseppe Moretti formerly located on Schenley Plaza in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Formerly sited along Forbes Avenue near the entrance of Carnegie Museum of Natural History, in the shadow of Dippy, a life-size sculpture of a Diplodocus dinosaur, and in close proximity to the University of Pittsburgh's Stephen Foster Memorial, the Foster statue is one of the city's best known and most controversial. It was removed on April 26, 2018 on the unanimous vote of the Pittsburgh Art Commission.

Junction Hollow

Junction Hollow is a small wooded valley bordering the west flanks of Schenley Park and the campus of Carnegie Mellon University and the southern edge of the University of Pittsburgh's campus in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Schenley Bridge

Schenley Bridge connects Schenley Plaza to Schenley Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It carries Schenley Drive over Junction Hollow to Frew Street and Flagstaff Hill.

Forbes Avenue

Forbes Avenue is one of the longest streets in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It has a length of about ten miles (16 km). According to historical writer and blogger Leon J. Pollom, the lowest section of Forbes was originally named Diamond Street. Mayor David L. Lawrence renamed the street for John Forbes (1707–1759), whose expedition recaptured Fort Duquesne and who renamed the place Pittsburgh in 1758.

Franklin Felix Nicola (1860–1938) was an American real estate developer.

Bellefield Boiler Plant

Bellefield Boiler Plant, also known as "The Cloud Factory" from its nickname's use in Michael Chabon's 1988 debut novel The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, is a boiler plant located in Junction Hollow between the Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University in the Oakland district of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Eve Shelnutt was an American poet and writer of short stories. She lived in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Athens, Ohio, and Worcester, Massachusetts. Over the course of her career, she taught at Western Michigan University University of Pittsburgh, Ohio University, and The College of the Holy Cross.

Frank S. Curto was the chief horticulturist for the Pittsburgh Department of Parks and Recreation.

Conflict Kitchen

Conflict Kitchen was a take-out restaurant in Pittsburgh that served only ethnic foods from countries with which the United States is in conflict. The menu focused on one nation at a time, rotating every three to five months, and features related educational programming, from lunch hour with scholars, film screenings, and trivia nights. Since the opening in 2010, the restaurant has introduced the cuisines of Iran, Afghanistan, Cuba, North Korea, Venezuela, Palestine, and most recently, Iroquois. Referring to the informational brochures distributed with meals, NPR described the restaurant as "an experimental public art project—and the medium is the sandwich wrap."

Suzie Silver is an American artist based in Pittsburgh, PA whose artistic focus lies primarily in queer video and performance art. Silver received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute in of Chicago in 1988 and her undergraduate degree from the University of California in 1984 and is currently a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in the School of Art.

References

  1. On The Mysteries of Pittsburgh: Essay by Michael Chabon