Michael Chabon was born in Washington, DC to Robert Chabon, a physician and lawyer, and Sharon Chabon, a lawyer. He knew he wanted to be a writer when he was a child. He studied at Carnegie Mellon University for a year before transferring to the University of Pittsburgh. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree there in 1984. Then Chabon went to graduate school at the University of California, Irvine and earned a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing.