We needn’t remind regular readers, let alone sporadic readers, that Michael Chabon‘s new novel THE YIDDISH POLICEMAN’S UNION is out as of today. After all, look in a national newspaper and there’s Michiko Kakutani‘s glowing review in the New York Times or Deirdre Donahue‘s more muted take in USA Today, or the Christian Science Monitor’s Erik Spanberg falling somewhere in between. Expect the non-stop coverage to continue through the weekend and beyond.

It also continues today as the LA Times’ Scott Timberg meets Chabon and showers him with all manner of descriptive phrases (“leonine good looks” and “Prom King of American Letters” being some of the more purple ones) while also getting the author to admit he’s frustrated by some of the early notices which concentrate on the more hardboiled aspects of the novel. Genre fiction’s struggle for respect is one of Chabon’s fiercest causes. “There’s something so tired about it,” he said, his body collapsing in mock exasperation. “I thought we figured that out already.” Not as long as there are still people ready and willing to fight – fairly and unfairly – on both sides of the so-called debate…