I recently finished Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, which had been recommended to me in an article entitled “65 Books You Need to Read in Your 20s” that piqued my interest. The novel is a 2001 Pulitizer Prize winner, so I assumed the commendation was not without merit.
The novel follows two Jewish cousins, Sammy Klayman (soon to be Sam Clay) and Josef Kavalier, in their rise to comic stardom from humble beginnings in Brooklyn. Josef has just escaped Prague in the tumult of pre-World War II pandemonium, and has come to America with the ambition of earning enough money to pay for his brother’s fare to follow him. Sam, currently employed in a dead-end job as an illustrator for a novelty products company, has dreams of becoming a comic artist in the template of his heroes, Will Eisner and Jack Kirby. His own drawing skills are limited, but once he discovers that his cousin Joe’s talent far superceedes his own, they collaborate to create what will become one of the most iconic and bestselling characters of all time – The Escapist.
Empire Comics is formed, and unanticipated fame and fortune soon result. Soon Sam and Josef are rubbing elbows with celebrities (a notable scene features Joe saving Salvador Dali at a party when his latest artistic foray goes awry), as well as falling in love (Joe with the inimitable Rosa Saks, fellow artist and daughter of a famous wealthy art dealer, and Sam with Tracy Bacon, the actor who plays The Escapist in the radio adaptation of the comic). All is not well for long, though – as murmurs of a second World War mount, Sam and Joe both suffer grim tragedies and uncomfortable realizations, which leads Joe to once again “escape” just like his titular character into the service, resurfacing only years later in a more astounding way than anyone could’ve imagined.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay was a book I just could not put down. It is a bit slow to start, and at 639 pages, it’s not a light read, but the characters were so engaging and the world that they inhabited so vibrant and fully realized that I felt as if I was right there on the page with them at times. Chabon’s prose is masterfully crafted and his descriptive language and character notes are truly a joy to read. It has been a long time since I read a novel that caused me to become so emotionally attached to a set of fictional characters. Be prepared to invest some time (and possibly some tissues) if you choose to read it, but the journey is worth it, especially if you enjoy character-driven fiction, comics, and historical settings.
Reviewed by: Paige
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