Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Chabon sold world English rights to his newest novel, Gentlemen of the Road, to Del Rey Editor-in-Chief Betsy Mitchell, via agent Mary Evans. Del Rey will publish the $18.95 hardcover on 6 November 2007.
“Gentlemen of the Road is the story of a pair of wandering adventurers—swords for hire, horsethieves, flimflam artists, unlikely soul mates—who get caught up in the schemes and battles that follow a bloody coup in the great medieval Jewish empire of the Khazars. Hired as escorts for a fugitive prince, they soon find themselves the half-willing generals of a mad rebellion as they attempt to restore the prince’s family to the throne.”
Mitchell said “I’m tremendously excited to bring to Del Rey a writer whose previous work has brought so much enjoyment to fans of our genre. This new story features all the exotic locales, adventure and intrigue a reader could want, told in a spellbinding voice.”
The story is currently being serialized in The New York Times Magazine. The Del Rey hardcover edition will contain new material by Chabon, and will be illustrated throughout with black and white drawings by award-winning artist Gary Gianni.
Chabon burst onto the literary scene when his University of California, Irvine, advisor sent his master’s thesis to an agent. That thesis was published as The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, gaining Chabon instant fame. His other books include 1995’s Wonder Boys (which was made into a film of the same name), 2000’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (which won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction), and the young adult novel Summerland (which won the 2003 Mythopoeic Award for Children’s Literature). The Mysteries of Pittsburgh and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay are both in production to appear as feature films this year or next. Chabon also received a screen story credit for 2004’s Spider-Man 2.