Gentlemen of the Road by Michael Chabon - Book Review

Jews with Swords. That was what Michael Chabon had in mind for the original title of Gentlemen of the Road. Combine the original and published titles together and you get a sense of the unique atmosphere, sly wit and daring do that Chabon is about to tell. This Road is full of intrigue, adventure and a dizzying sense of being lost only to be lead along by his dynamic characters (for better or worse).

Dizzy, drunken and swashbuckled, I enjoyed Gentlemen of the Road, I think. Don't get me wrong, I loved the characters Chabon came up with for this one. Especially the two main antihero heroes, Zelikman and Amram. And just thinking that Chabon had the gall to write into a 10th century tale that the African hero would have as his weapon a Viking axe with the phrase "Defiler of Your Mother" roughly transcribed in the handle makes me smile every time.

It's more the road these guys are on that made my head feel as if that axe had actually knocked me a time or two. Chabon knows how to deftly write in great discourse between characters and vivid descriptions of the plights they land in, but it all feels a bit disconnected here. This story was originally written for the New York Times Book Review in 15 serialized pieces, and the pacing feels like it in its novel form. I enjoyed being on the Road, but I never got the rush I should have felt in being caught up in such an adventure. It seems that if Chabon had committed to expanding the tale to a full on 500+ page epic, it would have read much smoother, the reader would have felt more educated on the realm of 10th century Khazaria, and Chabon would have had another bonafide classic on his hands.

But as is, Chabon's Gentlemen are still intriguingly unique company. If you don't know the artistic and literary abilities of Michael Chabon already, this book will tease you with his gifts and make you wonder where a writer like this comes from. He is still a "gentleman," like Zelikman, conning, surprising and saving our literary road of the 21st century.