Write about what you know. Sure. And if what you know is that you are stuck on Chapter 1, Page 1 of your third book, with critics and editors lurking and no idea in sight--what then, O most eloquent new voice (New York Times)? What now, O expert flyer of literary kites in swirling narrative flights (Philadelphia Inquirer)?
Michael Chabon's likable first novel, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, a lighthearted account of a young man growing up gay, was received with glad cries, and these still reverberated when his short story collection, A Model World, appeared. And then? Hmmm, let's see. The...