The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

Michael Chabon

A few weeks ago when we were in New York an old friend strongly recommended to me a book, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, a novel by Michael Chabon. I had never heard of it. When I told Tony to order me a copy he said we had it in stock and that over the years he had sold many copies, and that the novel had won a Pulitzer Prize. Just after I picked up a copy Dena and I were shopping in a local store in Fairfield and ran into a lady we have known for years but who was not someone we had ever been close friends with. She asked me how things were going at the bookstore and we began to chat. She suggested I should read a novel, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay I informed her I just picked up a copy of that very book. This week our son Mike is here in Arizona visiting us for Thanksgiving. I mentioned to him I was reading The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay and that I thought he might enjoy it. He told me that not only has he read it, but he has read everything that Chabon has ever written and that furthermore it was his reading of The Mysteries of Pittsburgh while in high school that had resulted in Mike’s going to the University of Pittsburgh as an undergraduate. Not only that, but over the years he and Chabon have emailed each other on many occasions as Mike is moving in the direction of following in Chabon’s footsteps by becoming a writer. It amazes me how often these amazing “coincidences” occur.

In any event, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is a most remarkable book and one which I highly recommend. In thinking about how I would review it, the phrase “tour de force” kept coming to mind. This is an amazing novel. The author obviously did a tremendous amount of historical research on the comic book industry and many other things and themes treated in the novel. The characters are quite fascinating and the author has treated themes and historic events about which someone like me knew next to nothing before reading this novel.

Joe Kavalier, born in Prague, trained as a magician and escape artist, comes to America and becomes a partner with his cousin in creating superheroes in comic books. Around this central plot line Chabon weaves a fascinating story that never leaves the reader bored, uninspired or sated.

Most importantly, I found the book very entertaining. The characters were multidimensional and worth getting to know. The descriptions of the everyday events were extremely well-crafted.

All in all, I rate this book very highly. My only criticism is that perhaps the book was a little too long and I was less than fully satisfied with the ending. Notwithstanding these perceived flaws I think almost any reader would find this tale fascinating and very enjoyable.

Review by Len Oppenheim