Alumnus profile: Michael Chabon

Michael Chabon has attained multiple achievements over the course of his career – among them… Michael Chabon has attained multiple achievements over the course of his career – among them four novels extolled by critics and a Pulitzer Prize. But it all started with a diploma from Pitt in 1984.

If you didn’t know that last fact, it’s doubtful you’ve read anything by the prolific author, whose titles include the tip-off. “The Mysteries of Pittsburgh,” Chabon’s first novel, swung him into the world of fame at age 25.

After a little research of your own, you might respond that, really, it wasn’t your fault for not knowing. After all, Chabon spent his first year of undergraduate at CMU, and he finished that bestselling novel in a graduate program at the University of California in Irving. The thing is, his diploma still says University of Pittsburgh, and that’s where he was inspired to write his first great novel.

For those dismissive of the iron city’s hold on aspiring artists, Chabon is clear about its hold on him. In an essay published in The New York Review of Books, Chabon reflects on writing “Mysteries,” saying: “I missed the friends I made there [in Pittsburgh], friends of whom I felt