Title:The Mysteries of Pittsburgh By: Chabon, Michael Released by: Perennial Released on: 1989 Rating (out of 10): 7 Date: 01/14/2002
Growing Up in the Pitts
Michael Chabon quickly climbed into the literary scene when Wonder Boys, his third novel, was adapted for the big screen, starring Michael Douglas as the flawed but forgivable professor. His most recent work of fiction, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, is currently being translated to script form as well. This epic story of two cousins who help to build the comic book industry against the backdrop of World War II tensions is simply a spellbinding experience, despite its wide girth. (See Kim Lumpkin’s magical review of this masterpiece. It convinced me to pick it up.)
Mysteries of Pittsburgh is Chabon’s first novel, now receiving the honor of reprinting due to his new, and deserved, acclaim. Though simpler in development and structure than his later work, it is still a talented first run with a pen. Just as in previous work, the main character is a young, disturbed, confused, impetuous, but responsive young man in search of self-understanding.
This Youthful Everyman is a concept not often tackled in popular books. Most of the adolescent and adult males on the best-selling lists know what they want or figure it out quickly; they are the easy-to-swallow stereotypical clichés of jock or nerd. Chabon chooses to feature the rarely discussed emotions that lurk in anyone defining himself, but has a knack for never allowing this human frankness to delve into melodrama. This routine use of similar characters doesn’t feel stifling, because their reactions are specific to the situations they encounter, which always vary. The ever-changing imperfections of the protagonists remain easy to relate to and entertaining.
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh focuses on the adventures of Arthur Bechstein during the summer he graduates from college. His father is a renowned mob boss, and his mother passed away years ago. Arthur doesn’t want to inherit his father’s less-than-respectable mantle but has little notion of what would make him happy. They have their regular, expensive, silent lunches as they try to understand and genuinely like each other beyond the bond of blood. They talk about the basic simple stuff, the physical actions of everyday life, but there’s a palpable, though not overly expository, uncertainty of how well they would do in the same room if each were thoroughly honest.
Arthur, without an opinion as to what his life should be at the moment, concedes to slough off life to work at a cheesy bookstore for the summer. He has just broken up with a girlfriend when he meets Arthur Lecomte, an arrogantly charming youth whom he is attracted to for friendship. Arthur Lecomte is everything Arthur Bechstein can’t be himself. They aren’t complete opposites; it's more like Arthur envies Lecomte’s apparent ability to acclimate to any situation without any sign of trepidation. Lecomte is also openly gay and, at first sees Arthur as another possible conquest. Eventually, however, Lecomte is happy enough to have another friend so that Arthur doesn’t experience the bland over-used homophobic questioning normally highlighted in novels.
Lecomte works at the community library and introduces the shy Arthur to a co-worker, Phlox, a woman who fascinated Arthur (though not lustfully) at first sight. She’s an eye-catcher as a mix of 1970’s style punk and high school cheerleader. They start dating, but not before Lecomte also introduces him to the rebel-with-a-heart-of-gold, Cleveland.
More to the point, after hearing all sorts of wild stories about Cleveland, this stranger has heard of Arthur’s lineage and seeks him out. Arthur’s curiosity towards Cleveland’s self-destructive mannerisms is pricked further by his great intellect. After all, having grown up in luxury and education, what could possibly attract Cleveland to the more seedy life, and constant risk of harm through his many misguided actions? How could this bright fellow desperately want to enter a career with his father, which Arthur himself has been effectively escaping for years?
Besides the physical traits of each of the characters, nothing is set in stone in terms of personality. Predicting what they will do or say next is impossible. With respect to the nature of the age they are, and the amount of time they spend with each other, influence and decision-making frequently changes hands. Even better, their pictures of perfection of one another collide without breaking them apart, becoming a stunning study of human interaction.
All this serious talk of people influencing one another aside, Chabon also manages to maintain a humorous banter throughout, mostly in conversation as these pals verbally, but affectionately, rub one another. There’s also the funny internal monologues that take place in Arthur’s head as he assesses motives and the correct step in a given moment. These are written in such a way that you can understand what would lead Arthur to think as he does, while still leaving room for incorrect interpretation. The engaging writing style allows you to appreciate Arthur’s rollercoaster of misgivings and happiness at the same time as you may want to yell at him for ignoring other clues you notice in his environment.
The only disadvantage to this structure is that Arthur will repeat the same mistakes and still be surprised by the outcome. This can get repetitive (and a bit trying on the attention span), especially as he is smart enough to know better. What saves this tendency towards regression is the admission that self-exploration is a difficult journey, and that often we don’t always do what we know is best because we impulsively act through our heart’s desire at a given moment.
Mysteries of Pittsburgh may not receive the same notoriety as Chabon’s latter work; it doesn’t lend itself as well to the silver screen, with its honest chattiness and limited number of scrappy, uninteresting locations. Of course, the claustrophobia created by the depressive settings of Pittsburgh serves as the perfect backdrop to a group of incestuous friends that teach each other, but the simplicity of the plot line would just be overshadowed by the larger ideas of Wonder Boys and Adventures. It’s sad, really, that it can take so long to recognize a strong narrative voice, as Mysteries was written in 1989 and is just now starting to get read.
