“He has the memory of a convict, the balls of a fireman, and the eyesight of a housebreaker. When there is crime to fight, Landsman tears around Sitka like a man with his pant leg caught on a rocket. It's like there's a film score playing behind him, heavy on the castanets. The problem comes in the hours when he isn't working, when his thoughts start blowing out the open window of his brain like pages from the blotter. Sometimes it takes a heavy paperweight to pin them down.”

American novelist, screenwriter, columnist, and short story writer

Michael Chabon is an American novelist, screenwriter, columnist, and short story writer. He was born in Washington, D.C., and is known for fiction and essays that have made him a prominent contemporary literary voice. He studied first at Carnegie Mellon University and then at the University of Pittsburgh, where he graduated in 1984. He later earned a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from the University of California, Irvine. His work spans novels, screenwriting, columns, and short fiction.