THE MYSTERIES OF PITTSBURGH (Michael Chabon) - March 23/09

Interesting yet often fatally pretentious, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh is essentially Wonder Boys from the perspective of a younger character. It's admittedly interesting the way Chabon turns the central character into a homosexual midway through - we think he'll wind up with Cleveland's girl Jane, but he instead chooses Arthur - but the book is too often bogged down in overly flowery instances of prose. **1/2 out of ****