Pops audiobook

Audiobook....read by Michael Chabon WORKS FOR ME!!!!!I’ve no complaints!!!!I could sit and listen to ‘both’ Michael and his lovely wife Ayelet Waldman talk about their family, their marriage, their jobs, ....heck and what they ate for breakfast many times over and still look forward to my next fix. I adore Michael Chabon & Ayelet... so don’t even ask me to not be bias. This book is filled with a father’s love for his children!!!Loved every minute of this Audiobook 💕

"Once they're written, my books, unlike my children, hold no wonder for me; no mystery resides in them."- Michael Chabon, PopsFundamentally, this seems like a leaner, thinner, Manhood for Amateurs, (Part II: Fatherhood). It was good, and some of the essays were great even. But like a lame, awkward untwisting of the old the Woody Allen joke from Annie Hall: "Boy, the stories in this book weren't bad," "Yeah, I know; and such small portions." Well, that's essentially how I feel about the book. I love love Chabon (not a completest, but the horizon is close), adore his prose, his outlook, and his wacky metaphors. I sometimes even got the serious feels with these stories as a husband and father. But, alas, just about when I'm getting all Chaboned-up, the book is over. Anyway, the thin book contains the followings stories, just in time for father's day:1. Little Man (in GQ as 'My Son the Prince of Fashion')2. Adventures in Euphamism3. The Bubble People4. Against Dickitude5. The Old Ball Game6. Be Cool or Be Cast Out7. Pops (in the New Yorker as 'The Recipe for Life')

During a time in which the artist-vs-art debate has reached a fever pitch, it is positively delightful to discover that one of my favourite authors happens to be a guy worthy of admiration for both his work and his conduct. Listened to over two hours and change of chores and food prep, Pops: Fatherhood in Pieces is a stellar audiobook compilation of Chabon's reflections on fatherhood. Though I'm more familiar with Chabon's fiction, he does a splendid job infusing the same sense of wonder, intelligence, word-play, and empathy into these essays as he does his imagined tales.It was a pleasure to discover that Chabon's verbose and superlatively imagined style extends to his nonfiction writing. Chabon's children pop off the page with minuscule details that show his affection for them and attention to their lives. Each of these stories tackles a moment in which Chabon is confronted with his own parenting challenges or when his children have surprised him with their comportment. Each of these stories is warm and suffused with hard-earned wisdom and bolstered by Chabon's decision to narrate the audiobook.Though the theme of fatherhood unites the stories, there's sufficient variety here that had me listen to the entire running time in a single session. Chabon delivers a thoughtful meditation on male privilege, consent, feminism, and his own fumbles in past relationships that centre around a text conversation between his son and a love interest. A journey to Paris fashion week with his sartorially gifted son makes for a hilarious lambast of high fashion and a touching attempt to understand his offspring. The closing story dealing with his ailing father also makes for a poignant and beautiful finish to the entire collection.As I've said in a previous review, Chabon never writes the same book twice. Though this is nonfiction, a lot of the warmth and humanity that has drawn me to his previous books is present in Pops: A Fatherhood in Pieces. If his previous book--the partially-nonfictional Moonglow--felt elegiac then, Pops is a sharp turn towards the optimistic and uplifting. Whatever he's up to next, you can be sure I'll be picking it up!

In these eight brief essays, Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Michael Chabon tells us stories about his teenage children and shares the vulnerability of parenthood: what it feels like to be reduced to a “minder,” a receding figure of dwindling relevance, looking for the permissible moments to be helpful, striving to be of use. Yet he shares the rewards of parenting too: we see him find those permissible moments, and share his joy as his children grow closer even as they grow beyond him.The first essay (“The Opposite of Writing”) is an introduction of sorts), in which Chabon—years later, now a father of four—responds to the advice of a famous novelist who told him never to have children. The second piece (“Little Man”) is the best, about a trip he and his youngest son made to Paris for Fashion Week (fourteen-year-old Abe is obsessed with fashion; his father Michael couldn’t care less). The other six essays, though, are good too: “Adventures in Euphemism” (how to deal with the “N-word” when reading Huckleberry Finn aloud to your children), “The Bubble People” (during a visit to a neighborhood Berkeley coffeehouse—where his fifteen-year-old daughter sports a rasberry pillbox hat with a veil—Chabon reflects upon growing up in sedate Pittsburgh, and wonders, “Which one is the bubble?”), “Against Dickitude” (how does a father respond to his teenage son’s callous ignoring of a girl?), “The Old Ball Game” (A daughter and a son help Chabon wrestle with the mythic enormities and the complex realities of baseball), “Be Cool or Be Cast Out” (Clothing—for both him and older son—as a badge of defiance and self-assertion, and “Pops” (a memoir of his own brilliant father).This book is a brief, but eventful journey, and throughout Chabon shows himself to be a loving, parent, always looking out for the opportunity to attain th the brief, occasional moment of relevance. May we all be so loving and attentive . . . and so lucky.

Quanto tempo sottraggono i figli ai padri? E se il padre è uno scrittore, quanto deve pagare, in termini di libri non scritti e non pubblicati, per avere un figlio?In questi otto racconti, Michael Chabon investiga la paternità, in quel rapporto unico che lega un padre a un figlio, e cerca di dare una risposta a quell’illustre collega che lo sconsigliò vivamente di avere figli, se avesse voluto intraprendere seriamente la carriera di scrittore.Chabon però non segue il consiglio e diventa sia padre di quattro figli sia scrittore ed è stato felice di questa scelta: “Una volta scritti, i miei libri, diversamente dai miei figli, non contengono più meraviglie; non vi risiede più alcun mistero. Diversamente dai miei figli, i miei libri sono crudeli e inflessibili con le mie debolezze, inettitudini e pecche caratteriali. Ma soprattutto i miei libri, diversamente dai miei figli, non ricambiano il mio amore.”Padre è colui il quale nel momento giusto crea una piccola crepa nell’anima giovane del figlio, perché “A volte una crepa è proprio quel che ci vuole, per far entrare uno spiraglio di luce.” E padre è anche chi non riesce ad avere un rapporto sano con i propri figli: “Al di fuori della zona sicura delle nostre telefonate, con il loro menù fisso a base di minirecensioni di libri e film, analisi politiche dilettantesche e telegrafici bollettini sugli altri abitanti delle rispettive case, territorio del nostro rapporto padre-figlio è oscurato dalle consuete rabbie, delusioni e sconfitte, cosparso delle ossa di vecchie promesse e bugie.”Finalmente con questo libro do avvio alla lettura dei libri di Chabon che sto corteggiando da tempo.

Michael Chabon's been one of my favourites for years, but I don't think he was in my top 5 until a couple of years ago when I read his piece "The Old Ball Game" on his website. It's a beautiful piece about baseball and family that always brings a tear to my eye, and firmly established him in my mind as a writer of another calibre. I'm so excited it's been included here. Chabon's not a sentimentalist, but his writing is shot through with compassion, especially in regards to his family. The beautiful warmth and humanity of his writing here will make you smile and bring those close to you even closer.

Pops is a very slim collection of nonfiction essays.  I particularly enjoy Chabon's nonfiction because he is unafraid.  He addresses topics that would scare most authors.  Specifically, he has no issues admitting that fatherhood, and manhood for that matter, is a bit of a work in progress for him.  Even though none of us have it figured out, he readily admits that fact.Remember, Chabon is a world-renowned Pulitzer Prize winner.  He should have an ego the size of a mansion, but he doesn't.  His humility is both refreshing and inspiring.At just 127 pages, Pops succinctly delves into Chabon's adventures in fatherhood.  If I'm not mistaken, each of his children serves as the focus of an essay.  The themes range from discovering the true nature of a child to seizing upon missed opportunities to trying to teach boys not to act like assholes.  There's much more, of course, but the unifying factor throughout is Chabon admitting to his own mistakes and simply trying to do the best he can.The book ends, interestingly enough, with Chabon writing an essay about his own father.  If you are a consistent reader of Chabon, you understand that this is well-covered ground.  He is not mean when it comes to his own father, yet he also isn't sugarcoating anything.  It's obvious that he loves his own dad, but it's also apparent that he didn't always like the man.If find it fascinating that in a book about his own trials, tribulations, and triumphs as a father, he ends on a note that helps us to understand the events that forged the sort of father he would one day become.  Now, I trust Chabon completely.  I've been reading him since 2004, and I've never had reason to doubt his honor or sincerity.  However, it is worth noting that in all his recollections regarding his father, we've only had his unique perspective.  And now, in writing about himself as a father, we only have his point of view.  What would his own children say about these essays?  Will they find Chabon's writing compatible with their own personal experiences?Chabon is incredibly intelligent.  It would not surprise me at all if he were to have his children participate in a podcast or an interview or something to serve as a companion piece to this novel.  It simply struck me as an interesting thought.As always, Chabon delivers beautiful prose describing his escapades in parenting.  If you love his writing, you'll love this book.

My wife gave me this book for Fathers Day. We’re both Chabon fans and this one doesn’t disappoint, at least not in terms of being well written by Chabon. But, it gets 4 stars for the following reasons: 1) It is all reprinted articles from various magazines, although that, in itself, is not worthy of removing a star 2) For a book of essays, it’s entirely too short. I need more! and 3) I’m still angry about the ending of ‘Against Dickitude’ and it has been 24 hours since I read it. Seriously?!? It was a great essay, right up til the end then it’s just, to quote Chabon himself, farbisn. Honestly, it should be 5 stars because both ‘Pops’ and ‘The Old Ball Game’ hit me right in the feels and all of them are truly gifted writings on being a father. Looking for a good book for your dad for Fathers Day next year? This is it.

Top of the Pops.A slender book of essays on fatherhood by my favourite author. I only wish this had been longer. Warm, witty and wise, each piece has something recognisable to say about parenthood and says it in such a way that will bring a smile to the face or a tear to the eye. Ah, Michael Chabon, how wonderfully you write…

Reread: May 2019At only 127 pages (or 3 hours if you prefer audio to print) Pops is, as well as a great collection of personal essays, a perfect gateway into the world of Michael Chabon. Highly recommended if you have never read his work before. 4.5/5

Every book from Chabon is a gift. This one is a collection of short pieces on fatherhood. I'd read most of them before. They're all worth re-reading.

I found this little gem at The Dollar Tree. I'd never read anything by him, although he was on my "I Should Check Him Out One Day" list in my head. Heartfelt essays. A nice introduction to who he is. Definitely worth the buck twenty-five. (Probably would've docked it a star if I'd shelled out $19.99, though; it's a pretty slight volume.)

I loved these essays. I'm a huge fan of Chabon, and one of my favourite Chabon books is his essay collection on masculinity and his coming-of-age, Manhood for Amateurs. Pops feels like an addendum to that book. Every one of these essays could be included in that earlier collection, and my only complaint is this book is pretty short.I'm still giving this collection five stars because no one writes like Chabon, and I walked away from the book feeling the weight of my role as a father and a son in a way I haven't in a long time.

Enjoyable often insightful and penetrating read.

baseball, sneakers, contemporary lit, feeling in love and feeling anxious.yes, chabon continues to write the stuff i feed off of, hook it up to my veins.