Bookends

A wander along the lost avenues and borderlands of the 20th century popular imagination ... Bookends celebrates the skill of artists and writers to conjure imaginary worlds.... Ultimately, the success of Bookends lies in the way it demonstrates a lifelong emotional engagement with the possibilities of art, and the texts that speak to us at important moments in our lives. It traces the strange spark that arises at 'the intersection of a wish and the tip of a pencil.' ... Entertaining, funny and eminently readable, Bookends restores the intrinsic and illuminating role that art can play in our lives. - San Francisco Chronicle The gleanings of an idiosyncratic, omnivorous human mind: a destination unto itself but also a gateway to the work of others. - Los Angeles Times A collection of wide-ranging, envy-making, page-turning criticism: what it is, how it is and why it matters. Above all else, it's an introduction to what criticism is for. - Paste An intellectually waggish labor of literary love.... The erudite author celebrates science fiction, fantasy, myths, comics, ghost stories, and more, distilling his wonder of the craft of storytellers that has captivated his heart since boyhood.... A wholehearted fandom of the written word. - Christian Science Monitor Insightful...intelligent and entertaining. - Publisher's Weekly Eclectic, exuberant. - Kirkus Reviews Chabon, the incandescently imaginative and artful author of a dozen works of fiction...offers fresh and illuminating analysis of the various styles and intentions of forewords, an often-dismissed literary form that he turns into scintillating hybrids of literary appreciation and memoir. Chabon devotees will relish his ensnaring essays for the insights they provide into his inspirations. - Booklist