GENTLEMEN OF THE ROAD/SUMMERLAND

As the Month of Chabon goes on, my esteem for him continues to grow; I’ve definitely crossed over from casual reader to actual fan. Is there no genre he can’t take on? Thanks to Editor A, who recommended it and lent it to me, I greatly enjoyed Gentlemen of the Road, aka “Jews With Swords” (in the Afterword, which is genius in and of itself, Chabon claims this was the book’s original title). It’s a brief, swashbuckling illustrated adventure tale that (although it contains no magic) somehow pleasantly reminded me of the Judith Tarr fantasy novels (particularly the “Hound and the Falcon” and “Avaryan Rising” trilogies) I loved as a teenager, even down to certain plot points. I’m very curious to know whether Chabon ever read them, or if the similarity is just a coincidence of genre. Now I’m rereading Summerland and still think it’s a near-perfect young adult novel. Though I’ve now caught up with all Chabon’s major works (I’ve left his two short-story collections unread, as well as the two McSweeney’s anthologies he edited), I’ll be sorry for the month to end. Can’t wait to see what his next novel is like!