迈克尔·夏邦（Michael Chabon），当代美国文坛最受瞩目的才子作家。1963年生于华盛顿特区，十岁时立志成为作家，先后就读于卡内基-梅隆大学和匹兹堡大学，在加州大学厄湾校区获得创意写作硕士学位。1988年，年仅二十五岁的迈克尔·夏邦出版其硕士学位作业、长篇小说处女作《匹兹堡的秘密》，创下当时新人小说最高预付版税纪录，上市后造成畅销旋风，也为他赢得"塞林格接班人"的美国文坛金童美誉。他于1995年出版的第二部长篇小说《天才少年》也大获成功，被改编成电影，由迈克尔·道格拉斯和托比·麦奎尔主演。2000年，迈克尔·夏邦出版第三部长篇小说《卡瓦利与克雷的神奇冒险》，助他在三十八岁之龄赢得普利策小说奖，成为过去三十年来最年轻的普利策长篇小说奖得主。一些评论家认为：夏邦写出了无数作家穷其一生梦寐以求的"伟大的美国小说"，而该书描写的，却是向来受主流文坛轻视的主题：漫画。2007年出版的长篇小说《犹太警察工会》融合科幻和侦探小说类型小说元素，先后荣获星云奖、雨果奖、轨迹奖等科幻小说大奖。美国电影奇才科恩兄弟将把该书拍成电影。最新长篇小说《电报大道》被誉为"21世纪版'米德尔马契'"，并入围IMPAC文学奖、《洛杉矶时报》图书奖等多个重要文学奖项的评选。此外，迈克尔·夏邦著有短篇小说集、散文集、童书、青少年小说多部，还曾担任电影《蜘蛛侠2》编剧。 迈克尔·夏邦常被评论家与约翰·契弗、纳博科夫等现代经典作家相比。而他对类型小说、流行文化的兴趣，也使得他的作品丰富多样，难以界定。

For sixty years, Jewish refugees and their descendants have prospered in the Federal District of Sitka, a "temporary" safe haven created in the wake of the Holocaust and the shocking 1948 collapse of the fledgling state of Israel. The Jews of the Sitka District have created their own little world in the Alaskan panhandle, a vibrant and complex frontier city that moves to the music of Yiddish. But now the District is set to revert to Alaskan control, and their dream is coming to an end. Homicide detective Meyer Landsman of the District Police has enough problems without worrying about the upcoming Reversion. His life is a shambles, his marriage a wreck, his career a disaster. And in the cheap hotel where Landsman has washed up, someone has just committed a murder--right under his nose. When he begins to investigate the killing of his neighbor, a former chess prodigy, word comes down from on high that the case is to be dropped immediately, and Landsman finds himself contending with all the powerful forces of faith, obsession, evil, and salvation that are his heritage. At once a gripping whodunit, a love story, and an exploration of the mysteries of exile and redemption, "The Yiddish Policemen's Union" is a novel only Michael Chabon could have written.