Michael Chabon

With his insightful and often bittersweet stories of youth and imagination, author and screenwriter Michael Chabon made a profound impact on contemporary literature at the turn of the millennium. At the same time, not unlike past literary figures such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and William Faulkner, Chabon tried his hand in Hollywood, leading to success as writer of the novel-turned-film, "Wonder Boys" (2000) and "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh" (2009). He also ventured into the world of comic book film adaptations, which led to penning drafts of "X-Men" (2000) and "Spider-Man 2" (2004), though he only received screen credit for the latter. As he continued publishing novels and memoirs to critical acclaim, Chabon had less luck in Hollywood, with a proposed screen adaptation of his novel The Yiddish Policeman's Union unrealized; one film that he did work on as a script doctor, the science ficion action epic "John Carter" (2012), was a notorious box office flop. Chabon's interest in pop music led both to his writing of the novel Telegraph Avenue (2013), set at a failing record store in his adopted hometown of Berkeley, California, and his first work as a lyricist, helping write several songs on Mark Ronson's hit album Uptown Special (2015). In 2016, Chabon wrote the fictionalized family history Moonglow, based on stories he ahd been told by his dying grandfather.