The Mysteries of Pittsburgh
Encyclopedia
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh is a 1988
novel
by American
author
Michael Chabon
. The story is a coming-of-age tale set during the early 1980s in Pittsburgh
, Pennsylvania
.
It was Chabon's first novel, which he began writing when he was a twenty-one-year-old undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh
. He continued to work on it during his studies (1985–1987) in the Creative Writing Program of the Department of English at the University of California, Irvine
, where he submitted it as his thesis for the Master of Fine Arts
degree. One of his advisors, the novelist MacDonald Harris, sent it to his literary agent
. It was published in 1988 and became a bestseller
.
A film adaptation
—starring Jon Foster
, Sienna Miller
, Peter Sarsgaard
, and Nick Nolte
—was released in 2009.
, Chatham College, Hillman Library, Lake Erie
, Presbyterian University Hospital
, Schenley Park
, Schenley Bridge
, and the Pittsburgh neighborhoods of Oakland
, Squirrel Hill
, Shadyside
, Downtown
, Mount Washington
, East Liberty
, Fox Chapel
, and Highland Park
. A boiler plant, informally labeled The Cloud Factory
, located in Junction Hollow
between Carnegie Mellon University and the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh
, plays a special role in the novel.
love and bisexuality
, Chabon was early-on identified as a gay writer. Chabon has frequently been asked if this identification concerned him; his usual reply is that he worried gay readers might feel he was being presented to them under false pretenses as one of their own.
A recently-reissued edition of the book featured an author's note in the back; entitled "P.S.", it details some of the inspiration, problems and process by which the novel was written. For example, when writing portions of the novel, he often had to balance his early-model computer precariously on an old tool table to type properly. Many fans of his work had questioned Chabon's sexuality, due to the presence of gay characters in his novels. On page twelve of the expanded notes section he reveals that, although he is currently married to a woman, he has had same-sex relations in the past.
1988 in literature
The year 1988 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*Margaret Atwood - Cat's Eye*J.G. Ballard - Memories of the Space Age*Iain M...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
Michael Chabon
Michael Chabon
Michael Chabon born May 24, 1963) is an American author and "one of the most celebrated writers of his generation", according to The Virginia Quarterly Review....
. The story is a coming-of-age tale set during the early 1980s in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
.
It was Chabon's first novel, which he began writing when he was a twenty-one-year-old undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
. He continued to work on it during his studies (1985–1987) in the Creative Writing Program of the Department of English at the University of California, Irvine
University of California, Irvine
The University of California, Irvine , founded in 1965, is one of the ten campuses of the University of California, located in Irvine, California, USA...
, where he submitted it as his thesis for the Master of Fine Arts
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...
degree. One of his advisors, the novelist MacDonald Harris, sent it to his literary agent
Literary agent
A literary agent is an agent who represents writers and their written works to publishers, theatrical producers and film producers and assists in the sale and deal negotiation of the same. Literary agents most often represent novelists, screenwriters and major non-fiction writers...
. It was published in 1988 and became a bestseller
Bestseller
A bestseller is a book that is identified as extremely popular by its inclusion on lists of currently top selling titles that are based on publishing industry and book trade figures and published by newspapers, magazines, or bookstore chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and...
.
A film adaptation
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh (film)
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh is a film based on Michael Chabon's best-selling novel of the same name, which was published in 1988. The screenplay was written by Rawson Marshall Thurber, who also directed. It was Produced by Michael London and Executive Produced by Omar Amanat. Shooting in...
—starring Jon Foster
Jon Foster
Jon Foster is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the 2004 film The Door in the Floor, the 2006 horror movie, Stay Alive, and co-starring opposite Jenna Elfman in the CBS comedy Accidentally on Purpose.-Personal life:Foster was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of...
, Sienna Miller
Sienna Miller
Sienna Rose Diana Miller is a British-American actress, model, and fashion designer, best known for her roles in Layer Cake, Alfie, Factory Girl, The Edge of Love and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. In 2007, the London Film Criticsnamed her British Actress of the Year for Interview...
, Peter Sarsgaard
Peter Sarsgaard
John Peter Sarsgaard is an American film and stage actor. He landed his first feature role in the movie Dead Man Walking in 1995. He then appeared in the 1998 independent films Another Day in Paradise and Desert Blue. That same year, Sarsgaard received a substantial role in The Man in the Iron...
, and Nick Nolte
Nick Nolte
Nicholas King "Nick" Nolte is an American actor whose career has spanned over five decades, peaking in the 1990s when his commercial success made him one of the most popular celebrities of that decade.-Early life:...
—was released in 2009.
Plot summary
Art Bechstein is the son of a mob money launderer. Bechstein's father wants him to succeed in a legitimate career, but when he graduates from his Pittsburgh college, he has only a vague hope for a summer of adventure before he commits to the rest of his life. Bechstein almost immediately meets a charming young gay man, Arthur Lecomte, and his friend, a highly literate biker named Cleveland Arning, who become his partners in many summer adventures. Bechstein begins a relationship with an insecure young woman named Phlox Lombardi. As his attraction to Arthur grows over time, it destabilizes both relationships and reveals his possible bisexuality. Bechstein is also troubled when Cleveland begins moving deeper into the city's organized crime families, drawing him closer to his father's dangerous mafia connections. All of Bechstein's relationships with his family, friends, and lovers become more and more entangled, causing a series of falling outs and unforeseen consequences.Settings
The novel takes place during summer. It begins in April, just after Bechstein has finished his four-year undergraduate education at the University of Pittsburgh. Specific settings include Carnegie Mellon UniversityCarnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
, Chatham College, Hillman Library, Lake Erie
Lake Erie
Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...
, Presbyterian University Hospital
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center is an $9 billion integrated global nonprofit health enterprise that has 54,000 employees, 20 hospitals, 4,200 licensed beds, 400 outpatient sites and doctors’ offices, a 1.5 million-member health insurance division, as well as commercial and...
, Schenley Park
Schenley Park
Schenley Park is a large municipal park located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, between the neighborhoods of Oakland, Greenfield, and Squirrel Hill. It is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district...
, Schenley Bridge
Schenley Bridge
Schenley Bridge connects Schenley Plaza to Schenley Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It carries Schenley Drive over Junction Hollow to Frew Street and Flagstaff Hill....
, and the Pittsburgh neighborhoods of Oakland
Oakland (Pittsburgh)
Oakland is the academic, cultural, and healthcare center of Pittsburgh and is Pennsylvania's third largest "Downtown". Only Center City Philadelphia and Downtown Pittsburgh can claim more economic and social activity than Oakland...
, Squirrel Hill
Squirrel Hill
Squirrel Hill is a residential neighborhood in the east end of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The city officially divides it into two neighborhoods, Squirrel Hill North and Squirrel Hill South, but it is almost universally treated as a single neighborhood...
, Shadyside
Shadyside (Pittsburgh)
Shadyside is a neighborhood in the East End of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It has zip codes of both 15232 and 15206, and has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by the council member for District 8...
, Downtown
Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Downtown Pittsburgh, colloquially referred to as the Golden Triangle and officially the Central Business District, is the urban Downtown center of Pittsburgh. It is located at the confluence of the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River whose joining forms the Ohio River. The "triangle" is...
, Mount Washington
Mount Washington (Pittsburgh)
Mount Washington is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's south city area. It has a zip code of 15211 and has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by both the council members for District 3 and District 2 .It is known for its steep hill overlooking the Pittsburgh skyline, which was...
, East Liberty
East Liberty
The following places are named East Liberty:* East Liberty, Ohio* East Liberty , a neighborhood of Pittsburgh* East Liberty , a novel by Joseph Bathanti set in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of the same name...
, Fox Chapel
Fox Chapel, Pennsylvania
Fox Chapel is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA, and is a suburb of Pittsburgh located northeast of downtown.The population was 5,388 as of the 2010 census.-History:...
, and Highland Park
Highland Park (Pittsburgh)
Highland Park is both a large municipal park and a racially diverse, mostly residential neighborhood in the northeastern part of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.The neighborhood has 6,749 residents according to the 2000 United States Census...
. A boiler plant, informally labeled The Cloud Factory
Cloud Factory
The Cloud Factory is an affectionate nickname for a boiler plant which billows steam from below its single smoke stack in The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, the 1988 debut novel by the Pulitzer Prize-winning American writer Michael Chabon...
, located in Junction Hollow
Junction Hollow
Junction Hollow is a small wooded valley bordering the west flanks of Schenley Park and the campus of Carnegie Mellon University and the southern edge of the University of Pittsburgh's campus in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania....
between Carnegie Mellon University and the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh
Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh
Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh are four museums that are operated by the Carnegie Institute headquartered in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
, plays a special role in the novel.
Literary significance and criticism
Because of the book's straightforward, even playful treatment of gayGay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
love and bisexuality
Bisexuality
Bisexuality is sexual behavior or an orientation involving physical or romantic attraction to both males and females, especially with regard to men and women. It is one of the three main classifications of sexual orientation, along with a heterosexual and a homosexual orientation, all a part of the...
, Chabon was early-on identified as a gay writer. Chabon has frequently been asked if this identification concerned him; his usual reply is that he worried gay readers might feel he was being presented to them under false pretenses as one of their own.
A recently-reissued edition of the book featured an author's note in the back; entitled "P.S.", it details some of the inspiration, problems and process by which the novel was written. For example, when writing portions of the novel, he often had to balance his early-model computer precariously on an old tool table to type properly. Many fans of his work had questioned Chabon's sexuality, due to the presence of gay characters in his novels. On page twelve of the expanded notes section he reveals that, although he is currently married to a woman, he has had same-sex relations in the past.