Wonder Boys

Wonder Boys Grow Up

'Wonder Boys' is about Grady Tripp, a middle-age English professor and novelist who should have grown up long ago. I like the book because I can relate to Grady Tripp's plight. He needs to ditch the drugs and take responsibility for himself. As always, the book is better than the movie. All we see in the movie version of 'Wonder Boys' is an aging writer smoking dope for seemingly no reason at all. But in the book, readers explore the dank depths of Grady Tripp's depraved existence. The pot becomes not the focus of the story, but a symptom of Grady Tripp's larger problem-- a youth slipping quickly away. If you have $20 to spend, this could be a good way to do it. Great for weed heads trying to quit, out-of-work writers and anyone going through a mid-life crisis.

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Something For Everyone

Michael Chabon presents a story that all people can enjoy. The aging hipsters of American society will enjoy the character of Grady Tripp, the pot-smoking hack writer who is constantly trying to figure out how his life ended up the way it did, swirling quickly down the toilet. The bitter disaffectionate youth will enjoy the struggles of James Leer, a minor kleptomaniac and aspiring writer, and the cynical citizens of American's population will enjoy Terry Crabtree, who realizes that romatic love is a joke and that happiness is related to job standing. The Wonder Boys has as many fascinating characters as America has fascinating people.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

On the surface, Grady Tripp is probably one of the most loathsom

On the surface, Grady Tripp is probably one of the most loathsome individuals I have ever read about in literature—he’s spent seven years on a 2,611 page monstrosity that has gone absolutely nowhere and like his life meandered everywhere, he’s come to the dissolution of his third marriage, he’s carried on an affair for about five years with the married chancellor who is now carrying his child, he’s smoked an entire football field of weed, and yet he can’t seem to cut himself off, and he harbors a certain amount of jealousy for James Leer, a student of his who has managed to finish his novel, while he has not—and yet I liked him anyway, and I couldn’t wait to see what crisis he would manage to find himself in the middle of next. He’s a train wreck, but he’s a somewhat loveable train wreck all the same, because he recognizes that he’s a complete and utter mess, and he has little, if any, hope for redemption.

This novel works, because Grady Tripp has a heart. He’s a man filled with misguided direction and false hope, and yet he still continues to go forth and attempt to conquer the world. He may have flushed seven years of his life down the toilet working on a novel that even he knows doesn’t really work, but he still believes there’s an ending out there somewhere for it, and all he has to do is find it. Like the main character, the prose of WONDER BOYS is both elegant and disturbing, and it’s a beautiful read from the first page to the last. And I enjoyed every single minute of it.

Robert Downs
Author of Falling Immortality: Casey Holden, Private Investigator

What can I say.. read it in 4 hours

Seriously, I think there is no greater compliment to a writer than reading a book in one sitting.

Bravo!

Favourite

This is one of my favourite books. I must admit I started with the movie, which is usually a bad idea (not in this case though), and bought the book a few years later. I finished it within a few days, and absolutely loved every bit of it.The style is refined, but not pompous,and very straightforward. The characters are unforgettable, and come alive without exception. I loved the dry humor of the novel, and I also appreciated the fact that it still remains very human. You can see, feel, touch the connection among the characters. It has a very real feel to it, and yet utterly absurd. I very highly recommend this novel.

Great Reading

Another Michael Chabon that I thoroughly enjoyed. I could not put it down. It is an easy read. The characters are unique. The storyline is quirky. I am truly a Michael Chabon fan now.

Great Writing About Writing

Michael Chabon's amusing and insightful novel Wonderboys concerns an aging novelist, Grady Tripp (also the narrator), whose life and 2,600 page novel are quickly spinning onward without him. Other important characters include Grady¿s long-time agent, Terry Crabtree, and Grady¿s most gifted and troubled student, James Leer. The novel is divided into parts, of varying length, that move fluidly between present actions, the past, and what it means to be a writer. It is funny, sad, and bizarre in so many ways, but it does seem to capture some of the ethos of writing and reading literature.

Wonder Boys

Michael Chabon is a master of character development and has captured the angst and depression of Grady Tripp, the main character. Grady is suffering from writers block and the situations in which he finds himself are at once hilarious and tragic.

So good....

I'm usually a pretty loquacious writer, and not particularly fond of editorial cliches, yet Michael Chabon's novel 'Wonder Boys' dislodged me into a place where I can think of no better response than a cliche: I am speechless. An extraordinary novel, and simply one of the best I've ever explored. Bravo!

God, this is what books should be.

Michael Chabon shows clearly in this novel that you can come back after a long time away and put something in print that matters. It speaks to the parts of us that make us readers and writers. An incredible read that will leave you feeling awed.

Devastating wit

This story itself is a terrific parody of the adventure novel with a callow middle aged anti-hero leading his most gifted student into the world of his personal disaters including divorce, infidelity, chemical dependance and an inability pull his fraying life (and novel) together. Funny beyond belief. A nice meditation on the the false pretences of intellectual life.

Amazing

Despite the fact that keeping a dictionary handy while reading this book proved helpful, I found Wonder Boys to be a real treat. This book is so eclectic and so well written that my copy is not only well worn, but also contains passages worthy of highlighting. Wonder Boys is truly full of wonder.

WONDERFUL STUFF

Read the book or buy the video starring Michael Douglas, Tobey Maguire, Katie Holmes and Robert Downey Jr. A faithful adaptation of a very funny novel, Chabon's best by far.

The Perfect College Novel

Michael Chabon brings many things to the table with his second novel that many writers lack: a sly, and sometimes dark, sense of humor, dialogue and narrative that belongs in the Smithsonian, blunt honesty in the midst of the ridiculous, while still making the book real. The relationships between Grady Tripp and his students and peers provide a great deal of ammunition so that the book never gets dull--the story is very character-driven. This is an enjoyable read that also makes you think.

'Wonder' full writing

Witty, engaging, and more, this book makes you laugh. The ivory tower crowd may not like its scewering of college professors. Grady Tripp, a writer and tenured writing professor in Pittsburg, is at a crossroads in his life, and this book covers the weekend that decided his future.

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No text was provided for this review.