Chabon inspires students

Though writer Michael Chabon and his wife, fellow writer Ayelet Waldman, claim they are… Though writer Michael Chabon and his wife, fellow writer Ayelet Waldman, claim they are boring people, they certainly know how to entertain a crowd. Speaking Monday at The Drue Heinz Lectures about their work and marriage, Chabon and Waldman held the audience completely captive with their stories.

In an “interview with a twist,” as Sylvia Keller, executive director of Pittsburgh Arts ‘ Lectures, described it, the husband and wife duo asked each other privately prepared questions, ranging in topics from writing habits, future plans, rumors about their careers and, surprisingly, Jennifer Lopez’s famous derriere.

Chabon is a University of Pittsburgh graduate whose books include “Wonder Boys” and “The Mysteries of Pittsburgh.” Waldman is the author of “Love and Other Impossible Pursuits,” “Daughter’s Keeper” and “Mommy-Track Mysteries.”

Sitting side by side, front and center of the almost-packed Carnegie Music Hall, the two were honest with their answers when they needed to be, but never missed the opportunity to insert a joke or witty remark.

Early in the evening, they described their writing habits: sitting back to back in their home in Berkeley, Calif., Waldman asking her husband for help with word choice, sometimes bickering over what music to play – apparently Waldman doesn’t find Queen as inspiring as Chabon – and taking walks together when one isn’t sure what to write next in a story.

As any audience member could attest, humor prevailed through the lecture. For example, one of the questions read, “Two words: Sienna Miller.”

“Do you know what that refers to?” Chabon jokingly asks the audience, referring to the negative comments actress Sienna Miller made about Pittsburgh while filming a movie adaptation of one of his novels here. “Did you hear?”

“Disgust,” Waldman is quick to add, joking of course.

“It was a long day for her, clearly,” Chabon continues. “She’s a lovely person.”

Though the crowd roared with so much laughter that it was often hard to hear every word of their lecture, two things were obvious. First, how down-to-earth the two are – they joked rather than complained about the below-zero temperatures and repeatedly said that they never get out of the house – and secondly, how much they admire, respect and love each other.

When Waldman answered the question of whether she will continue to write legal novels, her husband looked at her intently, wanting to hear the answer just as much as the audience, as though she had never spoken to him about this before. At other times, they interrupted each other, adding additional comments for a particular question.

The two constantly complimented each other by praising one another’s work but never in a way that would annoy the audience. “He’s totally wrong, honey. Your book ends beautifully,” Waldman told her husband when a man in the balcony commented that Chabon’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier ‘ Clay” ended abruptly.

And regarding Chabon’s column for the magazine Details, she assured him that “they’re fabulous every month.” Behind each one of those comments, though, was a slight bit of humor that was just enough to make the audience laugh, not cringe.

But once in the lecture, tears did start to well up in Waldman’s eyes as she spoke about the love she has for her husband. Mentioning Chabon’s columns for Details once more, she said, “I almost always end up in tears