Michaels grew up in NYC, went to Michigan, and taught at Berkley. Months ago This Recording put up an except from Sylvia and before reading it I inexplicably scoured amazon reviews and reserved a collection of his short stories at the library across the street, here is my initial favorite. Many more short stories, two weekend length novels, and a collection of his essays have since been sped through. His diary Time Out of Mind gleams ready on the shelf. The essays, my favorite, were divided into critical and personal. The latter surprised me by topping the critical first half of the collection which would have still been super enjoyable even if it hadn't given me a page and a half of references/names/vocab words to wikipedia, a more than small pleasure in and of itself.
Even after googling and reading a number of write-ups that assess his writing I can't really explain why I found it so appealing, if forced I'd say it was because he hit me as direct, effective, always interesting, and effortless to read. If you loathe 70s film writer/directors you'll want to stay away and vice versa.
A Girl With a Monkey: New and Selected Short Stories - 7/10 (79 % completed)
Sylvia - 7/10
The Men's Club - 8/10
The Essays of Leonard Michaels - 9/10
