The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay

by Michael Chabon

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In a word: Pop Art

In a sentence: Jewish cousins in Brooklyn write comic books together during WWII.

Synopsis: Joe has a knack for escaping: Hitler, handcuffs, and his own grief. Sam is an American Dreamer repeatedly let down by reality. In the space their greatest wishes come together, the Escapist is born.

Reactions: This book is an over-the-top comic book dream. It has everything. Humor, tragedy, violence, a token hot female, tragic origin story, and anti-heroes galore. It combines all the tropes with a historical fiction twist that produces a grounded, engaging, heartfelt read.

I'll start with saying that I enjoyed this book. It made me giggle, it made me cry; it provides its reader with loss and with love. Personally, I only wished it had been tighter around the edges. It lacked an element of 'show, don't tell' that left me frustrated that I couldn't quite get into the characters' minds at times when it was so vital to do so. However, this impression is likely due to the fact that my preferential reading style puts characters paramount, and plot almost irrelevant. I think if I were able to switch my focus I would have been wholly satiated by Chabon's great world-building and tale-telling capacities.

I wanted to briefly discuss the notion of escape that is ingrained so firmly in the spine of this novel. Escape is the key to it all. The comic book, the American psyche, and the lonely souls of Sam Clayman and Josef Kavalier, all hold their potential for escape as their last hope for freedom. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay explores, at its heart, just what happens when you finally manage to escape, and the freedoms and consequences that come with it.

Read if: you enjoy a coming of age, an American dream, tales of the 1940s, or a good comic book.