The Monkey King's Used Primate Emporium and Book Reviews

previous - next - random review

Michael Chabon, �A Model World�

Started December 17 � Finished December 19, 2002; 207 pages. Posted 31 December 2002

I�ve had some really strange vivid dreams lately, complete with guest star appearances. The first came about two weeks ago. My sister and I were driving through a small town in a big Econoline white van that had no windows except for the front windshield.

Not too weird in itself, but then the van started sputtering and smoke billowed out from the hood, and we eventually pulled up next to a small house with a wooden log fence. My sister and I turned to the back of the van to quiz our passenger with questions about what he had done to the van.

The hood light snapped on and Tom Waits sat low in a huge Lay-Z-Boy chair, one hand lying off the armrest to keep the bottle of whisky on an end table steady. Next to the bottle was a huge ashtray, nearly overflowing with cigarette butts.

Tom looked � well, exactly like you would expect Tom Waits to look like, right down to the �Miller�s Crossing� style hat.

�You went out driving last night,� my sister said accusingly. �What did you do to the van?�

�Awww, man, all I know is I�m so goddamn horny the crack of dawn better be careful around me,� Tom replied in that low growl that sounds kind of like my roommate.

�Did you put anything in the transmission?� she asked, not responding to his statement.

�Sure. All Halloween orange and chimney red.�

�What the hell are you talking about?�

It went on like that for a while, her asking questions and getting nothing but analogies, metaphors, and homespun folksy stories in reply. We finally walked to an auto parts store (well, we walked � Tom stayed in his chair that moved along the sidewalk at the same pace as we strolled), but my sister ran screaming from the place when we walked in and saw lots of banners with clich�d sayings like �If a frog had wings, it wouldn�t bump its ass a-hoppin�.�

About a week later, I dreamt that Dave Eggers walked into my bookstore, trying to sell a copy of his newest book so he could buy a cup of coffee. We were making polite conversation, when I decided to ask where he thought we should shelve his books. After all, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius only purports itself as fiction so Eggers could avoid being sued, much like my book.

But Eggers book, unlike mine, was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for the non-fiction category. We spent the rest of the day putting his books in various areas in the store to see the reaction from people who were browsing. Eggers never did get that cup of coffee.

I bring these up because Chabon�s book of short stories was like my dreams of late. Both my dreams and these stories were interesting and fun to go along with, but I didn�t gain anything like insight of the human condition or empathy for the people involved. And like the dreams, when I finished with each story I was glad that I had them in my memory but I doubted I would think much about them later.

So is that bad? I guess not, but it left me feeling hollow, wondering if I was missing something. The end result was like not having anything to eat all day, then going to see The Two Towers and devouring an entire bag of popcorn, something I also did recently. Sure, I didn�t need to eat anything more that day and the popcorn was good, but what I really felt like was that I needed some La Victoria to add a little spice to my diet.


Rating: Worth Used Prices.

previous - next - random review