SOURCE: “A Life of Wonder,” in Los Angeles Times, April 27, 1995, p. B11.

In the following essay, Himmelsbach discusses Chabon's literary success, the author's struggle to write a second novel, and Wonder Boys.

Michael Chabon was just your not-so-average literary wonder boy trying to splashily follow up his phenomenally successful debut, 1988's The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, with a great second novel.

After all, from the moment Chabon discovered his gift for writing, at 13, Chabon penned a story about Sherlock Homes meeting Captain Nemo, and he was hooked.

“It wasn't that hard,” he says. “I had fun doing it, and I got all this praise and attention.”

A mere decade later, while completing his master's in fine arts at UC Irvine, Chabon became the toast of the publishing world with the release of Mysteries, which, although intended as his thesis, touched off an intense bidding war. (William Morrow ultimately plunked...