Maps and Legends: Reading and Writing Along the Borderlands + POPS: Fatherhood in Pieces ARC

First Edition, 1st printing. Bright, clean & tight copy, unread, of the beautiful McSweeney's hardcover, in AS NEW condition. "Michael Chabon's sparkling first book of nonfiction is a love song in 16 parts--a series of linked essays in praise of reading and writing, with subjects running from ghost stories to comic books, Sherlock Holmes to Cormac McCarthy. Throughout, Chabon energetically argues for a return to the thrilling, chilling origins of storytelling, rejecting the false walls around 'serious' literature in favor of a wide-ranging affection. His own fiction, meanwhile, is explored from the perspective of personal history: post-collegiate desperation sparks his debut, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh; procrastination and doubt reveal the way toward Wonder Boys; a love of comics and a basement golem combine to create the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay; and an enigmatic Yiddish phrasebook unfurls into The Yiddish Policeman's Union." [publisher's copy] "Like the makers of golems, creatures of Jewish legend, 'the writer shapes his story, flecked like river clay with the grit of experience and rank with the smell of human life.' Vital energy and a boundless appetite for risk give these essays their electric charge."--O Oprah Magazine. Pristine hardcover w/brilliant corners & crisp edges, a square & tight binding, & a Fine (slight tear repair) 3-part, die-cut, 3-color jacket over gold-embossed title on front boards. I will include, as a free bonus, the unread paperback Advance Reader Copy of POPS, his thematic essay collection on fatherhood. "Deeply affecting. Chabon is a gifted essayist whose narratives lead to unexpected and resonant conclusions. His work here packs an outsized emotional punch that will stick with readers significantly longer than it takes them to read this slim volume."--Publishers Weekly. "Chabon's book feels like a late-night talk with a friend about how we love our kids and how hopeful we are that we're better dads than we fear."--Judd Apatow. Both quite collectible/giftable. …