num_pages: 208
description: An exceptional collection of short stories follows Chabon's well received debut novel, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh . These subtly ironic tales have a brevity and clarity that allows Chabon's bittersweet observations to hit home. Understatement is Chabon's talent; using words economically, he deftly creates believable situations made remarkable by underlying twists of motivation and behavior. His vivid characters share the need to feel accepted and loved by others. In ``S Angel'' Ira, a drama student at UCLA, attends his favorite cousin Sheila's wedding and falls for a party guest named Carmen--an abrasive, unstable woman who is unresponsive to his flirtations. It's as much a surprise to the reader as to Ira when he realizes his true affections for Sheila. The unpredictability of love surfaces again in the dryly witty ``Ocean Avenue,'' in which Bobby Lazar, an architect in Laguna Beach, runs into his ex-lover, Suzette, a painfully thin exercise fanatic, and finds he can't suppress his indefinable feelings for her, despite the chaos they bring to each other's lives. Chabon's characters manage to find joy amidst disappointment, and thus a sense of purpose.Part I: A Model World"S ANGEL""Ocean Avenue""A Model World""Blumenthal on the Air""Smoke""Millionaires"Part II: The Lost World"The Little Knife""More Than Human""Admirals""The Halloween Party""The Lost World"
language: English
title: A Model World and Other Stories
titlecomplete: A Model World and Other Stories
genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Collections, United States, American, Literary Fiction, Literature, Short Stories, Jewish, Novels
ratings_count: 3206
publisher: Harper Perennial