The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, by Michael Chabon

 

Characters Takes place in Pittsburgh, PA in the summer following college graduation.

Art Beckstein – narrator Joe – father, gangster Mother – deceased   Lenny Stern – uncle, lieutenant in Pittsburgh organized crime Aunt Elaine   Phlox Lombardi – Girl Behind the Glass at the Library   Arthur Leconte Ondine – mother, cleaning woman   Cleveland Arning Jane Bellweather – girlfriend, golfer   Mohammed “Momo” - friend   Gangsters: Jim Breezy Frankie Breezy Carl Puniche – fences stolen jewelry Feldman Lurch   Locations: Boardwalk Books The Cloud Factory The Lost Neighborhood Various neighborhoods around Pittsburgh

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from the 1989 Perennial Library edition.

1.       Discuss the various characters.  Were you able to understand their motivations?  Were they portrayed well and so that you could connect with them?

2.       Cleveland’s excuse for never doing anything was that, “Every one of his failings has a perfectly good excuse.  Usually some kind of disaster… so Cleveland is pardoned from every having to do anything good, or productive, ever again” (page 126).   Were you able to understand this about Cleveland?  Was there anything that could be done to help him?

3.       One time when Cleveland and Art were out at a bar, Cleveland said to Art, “Let’s get some pickled eggs” (page 112).   Do you make and like pickled eggs?

4.       The last sentence in the novel is, “No doubt all of this is not true remembrance but the ruinous work of nostalgia, which obliterates the past, and no doubt, as usual, I have exaggerated everything” (page 297).  Did this give you a different idea of the novel?

5.       Many classic novels and authors were mentioned in the novel: Ten Tales of Tension and Terror (Poe, page 231), The Happy Prince (Wilde, 98), and Garcia Marquez (page 111).  Did this add to the novel for you?  Why do you think the author added these?

6.       This novel was first published in 1988 and received rave reviews.  How do you think it would be received today?

7.       The blurbs on the cover of the 1989 edition compare the novel to Dickens’ Our Mutual Friend and Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, and Art Beckstein to Tom Sawyer and Holden Caulfield.  Do you agree?

8.       Is there anything we can learn from this novel today?