Pops: Fatherhood in Pieces

Michael Chabon

May 2018 · Sold by HarperCollins

About this ebook

“Magical prose stylist” Michael Chabon (Michiko Kakutani, New York Times) delivers a collection of essays—heartfelt, humorous, insightful, wise—on the meaning of fatherhood.

For the September 2016 issue of GQ, Michael Chabon wrote a piece about accompanying his son Abraham Chabon, then thirteen, to Paris Men’s Fashion Week. Possessed with a precocious sense of style, Abe was in his element chatting with designers he idolized and turning a critical eye to the freshest runway looks of the season; Chabon Sr., whose interest in clothing stops at “thrift-shopping for vintage western shirts or Hermès neckties,” sat idly by, staving off yawns and fighting the impulse that the whole thing was a massive waste of time. Despite his own indifference, however, what gradually emerged as Chabon ferried his son to and from fashion shows was a deep respect for his son’s passion. The piece quickly became a viral sensation.

With the GQ story as its centerpiece, and featuring six additional essays plus an introduction, Pops illuminates the meaning, magic, and mysteries of fatherhood as only Michael Chabon can.

Ratings and reviews

Having read several of Mr. Chabon's books previously and been duly impressed, I had the usual high hopes for "Pops" ... and then I came to the self-loathing, completely cucked, feminist drivel entitled "Against Dickitude," at the end of which Chabon actually blames his son's lack of text-returning to some vile, horny little slag for her eventual slide off the rails into drugs, truancy, etc., and then actually justifies "cracking" him -- even though he had just wept a few SJW/crocodile tears about doing the same sort of "cracking" (Chabon didn't say "pretty" about a damn haircut quickly enough -- really? REALLY?!?) to his useless daughter! No double standards here! Needless to say, I deleted the book immediately and won't be bothered with any more. Vile, tedious, white knighting garbage.

Mr. Chabon's text should be considered a must-read for everyone. An absolutely brilliant book...one of the rare times that, as I finished reading it, I started from the beginning again finding more and more depth and nuance. It will be one of those books I will keep coming back to for the rest of my life. Thank you.

About the author

Michael Chabon is the bestselling and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Moonglow and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, among many others. He lives in Berkeley, California with his wife, the novelist Ayelet Waldman, and their children.