Two Michaels -- Chabon and Ondaatjee -- in San Francisco

On Book Tours

On consecutive days, I heard two authors surnamed Michael whose body of work I have followed from their first novels, both of whom I have heard in person before more than once. I purchased multiple copies both of Michael Chabon's Mysteries of Pittsburgh and of Michael Ondaatje's Coming Through Slaughter and gave them away. I was definitely not the only one to discover the writings of either, and each went on to win a big award: Chabon the Pulitzer Prize for The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Ondaatje the Man Booker Prize for The Englilsh Patient (which also became a multiple award-winning film; alas the film of Kavalier and Clay that was set to be directed by Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot, The Hours), starring Tobey Maguire has not gone into production, and the film of The Mysteries of Pittsburgh -- with Peter Sarsgaard, Nick Nolte, Jon Foster, and Mena Suvari -- which was shown at Sundance this year, does not yet have a distributor and is reputedly not very good).

Rather than the standard issue book appearance all-black wardrobe, Michael Chabon was wearing a pink shirt and blue jeans. He has the wispy goatee of the author photo for Gentlemen of the Road.

Chabon read part of the introduction to Maps and Legends and "Diving into the wreck," his memoir (reprinted in that book) of giving up on ever being able to pull together a sci-fi opus titled Fountain City and beginning what became Wonder Boys in his apartment on 29th Street (between Sanchez and Noe) in San Francisco, while his wife prepared to take the California bar exam.