Michael Chabon writes beautifully and the Mysteries of Pittsburgh, written when he was only 23, is a witty and captivating novel about youth. Set in Pittsburgh, Art Bechstein has just finished college and has the whole summer stretching out before him. He embarks on a series of adventures; pranks and parties, escapades and hangovers with his new group of friends. Unsure of his sexuality, he bounces back and forth between his beautiful and exotic girlfriend Phlox who works at the library and his gay friend Arthur, trying to decide which way he should go.
Underpinning all the hedonism and abandon of youth is the shadow of Art’s gangster father and his underworld acquaintances (Art’s ‘uncles’) whose identity Art keeps secret from his friends but which is eventually and dramatically revealed as his two worlds come together. A great read which captures all the fun, uncertainty and recklessness of youth.
| Primary Genre | Modern and Contemporary Fiction |
| Recommendations: |
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Closing date: 04/07/2026
Art Bechstein steps out of the library into the summer of his graduation year. Not yet ready for respectability, he falls in with the exotic, charming Arthur Lecomte, and ricochets between a homosexual relationship and an intense affair with a strange and beautiful girl called Phlox. Before long, the world of his new friends and the underworld of his father must collide, with consequences that Art cannot control.
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh features in the following genres: Modern and Contemporary Fiction, eBooks of the Month, General Fiction, Fiction, Recommendations
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh is available in Paperback, Book
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh was written by Michael Chabon and published by Hodder & Stoughton General Division
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh has 240 pages
£9.89
