A Model World and Other Stories


A Model World and Other Stories is a 1991 collection of short stories by Michael Chabon. It was his first story collection and second book, following the 1988 novel, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh.

Contents

Part I: A Model World

  • "S ANGEL" - Ira, a 4th year UCLA drama student attends his cousin Sheila's Jewish wedding reception in a Pasadena hotel where he is attracted to Carmen, an older woman from Altadena, but things don't turn out as expected.
  • "Ocean Avenue" - on Ocean Avenue, architect Bobby Lazar unexpectedly meets his ex-wife Suzette but they clash over their divorce - she sold his collection of William Powell memorabilia, he sold her collection of 1958/59 Barbie Dolls.
  • "A Model World" - In a bookstore in Long Beach, Levine finds a book called Antarctic Models of Induced Nephokinesis published in 1970, the very subject he is writing his dissertation on, and he decides to plagiarize it.
  • "Blumenthal on the Air" - the title character works as a DJ on a Paris radio station and lives near Père Lachaise Cemetery with his Iranian wife Roksana, whom he married to save from deportation. Strains in their relationship come to a head on Bastille Day on a visit to Le Pouliguen.
  • "Smoke" - Matt Magee, a baseball pitcher is attending the funeral of his catcher in Pittsburgh who was killed in a car wreck.
  • "Millionaires" - Vince and Harry share everything except girls, but when Harry breaks up with Kim, Vince seizes the opportunity.

Part II: The Lost World

  • "The Little Knife" - On what turns out to be their last family holiday together, travelling down the I-95 to Nags Head, North Carolina, Nathan Shapiro's parents have a row and finish the holiday early.
  • "More Than Human" - On their weekly Thursday night trip to local libraries, Nathan's father fails to tell him about his impending divorce.
  • "Admirals" - 18 months after the divorce, Nathan and his brother travel with their father and his girlfriend from Ellicott City to Annapolis.
  • "The Halloween Party" - Nathan resolves to tell Eleanor Parnell, a friend of his mother, of his love for her at a Halloween party she is hosting.
  • "The Lost World" - After his mothers wedding, and hearing that his fathers wife is expecting a baby, Nathan and three friends get drunk and pay a visit to Chaya Feldman an old friend of Nathan who has a reputation for promiscuity.