Sunday, September 22, 2002

Meeting Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman

One of my favorite books (well, the first 2/3rds of it, anyway) is the Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay. I also liked The Wonder Boys and Mysteries of Pittsburgh very much. Michael Chabon also runs a wonderful Web site on top of being one of the better writers of our day.

So when I saw he was making a "stealth visit" to his former employer (Jay's Bookstall) to sign some books, I made a point of getting myself out to Oakland to pick up a copy of Summerland and meet Michael.

Ayelet Waldman, Jay, Michael Cabon and Ida-Rose

They were just delightful folks. I'd seen Michael in some TV interviews, but I don't remember having seen Ayelet Waldman before. She's also been writing, a series of mysteries called "The Mommy Track." I bought one of her books as well.

While I've been very lucky to meet lots of writers due to my involvement in SF fandom, I haven't met all that many mainstream writers. I met Barbara Kingsolver after a talk a few years ago, and that's been about it. So meeting a Pulitzer Prize winner, and "local boy makes good" was a real treat.