Michael Chabon. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. New York: Random House, 2012. 684 pages. ISBN 9780812983586.
Friends and relatives have been recommending The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay to me for years. It won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2001, and after finally reading it, I can see why. It tells the story of two cousins: Josef Kavalier and Sammy Clay meet for the first time as teenagers and become business and artistic partners in the nascent comic book industry.
Josef was born in Czechoslovakia and managed to escape after Germany invaded the country in 1938. Sammy grew up in New York City, the product of a broken family, but who idolized his father, a circus strongman. With Josef's early art school training and Sammy's love of comics, they paired up to create a series of highly successful superhero comics. Josef saves his earnings to pay for his younger brother's passage to the U.S. When everything goes wrong for both Josef and Sammy on the eve of Pearl Harbor, Josef joins the army so that he can get his revenge by killing Germans.
There are many things to like about this book. The historical setting is fascinating and well-drawn. I enjoyed reading about the early history of the comic book industry. Josef and Sammy's friendship and love for each other. Josef's love for Rosa, and the tragedy that unfolds when he unknowingly leaves her after she becomes pregnant. Young Tommy, named after Josef's lost brother. All of these strands and more come together in a satisfying yet bittersweet climax. This is a long book, but I didn't want it to end. I would have enjoyed another volume following Tommy and describing what happens to Sammy over the years.
As usual, Michael Chabon has written a book that is rich with detail and his deep knowledge of both history and popular culture. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys 20th century American culture and history or comic books.
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