NEW CHABON BOOK THIS SPRING
Saturday, December 29, 2007, 7:20 PM ET
UPDATED: Sunday, December 30, 2007 9:10 PM ET
Source: McSweeney's

Michael Chabon's first non-fiction book, Maps and Legends, will hit stores this spring.

Published by McSweeney's, the 200-page book, according to Chabon, "is a collection of writings on reading and writing, many but not all of them previously published, most of them retooled and shaped, hopefully, into a thematically unified whole."

McSweeney's is touting it as Chabon's first nonfiction book. It is not to be confused with a previously announced, untitled nonfiction essay collection on what it's like being a man in terms of being a son. That book is expected in spring 2009 from HarperCollins.

Maps & Legends, according to McSweeney's, features 16 essays "in praise of reading and writing."

"Throughout, Chabon energetically argues for a return to the thrilling, chilling origins of storytelling, rejecting the false walls around "serious" literature in favor of a wide-ranging affection," McSweeney's says.

Though exactly which stories are available isn't known, it is possible to guess on some thanks to McSweeney's synopsis, as some fans did at Wikipedia. According to them, the book likely includes:

The publication date seems to vary on who you check with. McSweeney's says February; Amazon claims March 28.

The book is priced at $24. According to Chabon, all proceeds go to San Francisco-based youth writing center 826 Valencia and McSweeney's. HarpersCollins will publish a paperback version in 2009, Chabon said.