In this compelling collection of short stories, bestselling author Michael Chabon explores adolescent desire, love, friendship and fatherhood -- moving across this powerful emotional ground with subtlety and incisiveness. Written with wryness, whimsy, and intellectual depth, this is a collection of eleven wonderful stories of growing up and growing wise. In 'S Angel' a group of wedding guests is hijacked by a fast-talking real estate agent, but not before the bride herself disappears. 'Smoke' takes us to a baseball catcher's funeral, where one of the mourners -- a has-been pitcher -- confronts the ruins of his career. In the hilarious title story, a graduate student plagiarizes a dissertation on the movement of clouds, only to find himself and his faculty advisor in a parlour game where each player must confess the worst thing he or she has ever done. The second part of the book 'The Lost World' is a series of stories about a young boy, Nathan Shapiro, who must face the wrenching emotions caused by his parents' bitter divorce. Serious, yet shot through with wit, humour and compassion, these are unforgettable stories from one of America's most celebrated writers.

邁剋爾•夏邦（1963— ），當代美國文壇最重要的中生代作傢之一。1963年生於華盛頓特區，先後就讀於卡內基-梅隆大學和匹茲堡大學，並在加州大學厄灣校區獲得創意寫作碩士學位。1988年，年僅二十五歲的邁剋爾•夏邦齣版其碩士學位作業、長篇小說處女作《匹茲堡的秘密》，創下當時新人小說最高預付版稅的紀錄，上市後造成暢銷鏇風，也為他贏得“塞林格接班人”的美國文壇金童美譽。他於1995年齣版的第二部長篇小說《天纔少年》也大獲成功，被改編成電影。

2000年，邁剋爾•夏邦齣版第三部長篇小說《卡瓦利與剋雷的神奇冒險》，更助他以三十八歲之齡贏得普利策小說奬，成為過去三十年來最年輕的普利策奬長篇小說得主。一些評論傢認為：夏邦寫齣瞭無數作傢窮其一生夢寐以求的“偉大的美國小說”。之後，他又陸續推齣結閤美國土著神話與棒球史的青少年小說《夏日禁地》與福爾摩斯小說仿作《最後的解答》。

邁剋爾•夏邦對類型小說、流行文化的興趣，也使得他的作品豐富多樣，難以界定。2007年齣版的長篇小說《猶太警察工會》先後榮獲星雲奬、雨果奬、軌跡奬等科幻小說大奬。美國電影奇纔科恩兄弟將把該書改編為電影。他的最新小說是2012年齣版的《電報街》。他還曾擔任電影《蜘蛛俠2》的編劇。