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| The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier Clay | 
 enlarge | Author: Michael Chabon
Publisher: Picador
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
Buy New: $2.99
You Save: $12.01 (80%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $2.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  (596 reviews)
Sales Rank: 1112
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 656
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.3
ISBN: 0312282990
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780312282998
ASIN: 0312282990
Publication Date: August 25, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 The Best Book I Have Ever Read April 17, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Simply put: this is the best book I have ever read. When I was about half way through the book it dawned on me that this was my favorite book, to know that half way through, made reading the rest that much more enjoyable. To my amazement this feeling never dissipated nor did the story let up at any moment, it just kept getting better. The story of Joe Kavalier and his cousin Sammy Clay is one of hope, trust, misfortune, unfairness, love, life, disappointment, comedy, tragedy and of course comic books. From Joe's amazing escape from Nazi occupied Prague to his dumbfoundedness on the fact that he can make money at drawing comics to the rage burning inside him for revenge against the Nazi's is so clearly defined by Chabon that you empathize with him immediately. To counter Joe's leading man status, is his "sidekick" and cousin American born Sammy Clay, who always seems to come in second place in life, whether it be with his circus strongman father, his job at the whoopee cushion creating novelty house or love and happiness, he always seems to be playing second fiddle. That is until Joe Kavalier enters his life and together, and to their out and out amazement they create the wildly successful comic book character of "The Escapist" (based on Joe's being trained as one as a young boy), which gives Superman a run for his kryptonite. The ups and downs and ins and outs of their lives through comic book creating, the love of Rosa (a girl that Joe literally stumbles upon) and the state of the human psyche through sheer pleasure and terrible atrocity is all right with in the 637 pages of this book. Michael Chabon is clearly one of the most talented writers to come along in a long time. His descriptions are beyond reproach, with his twist of a word or a flick of an adjective you are literally smelling the coffee, hearing the wind, and envisioning each character to a tee. Kavalier and Clay is a fantastic journey through the World War II era through the lives of two cousins that accent each other and are just opposite enough to create a wonderful taste of literature. I absolutely recommend this book and hope you enjoy as much as I know I did.
what makes us human can be the most painful experience of all... April 11, 2008
this novel is quite difficult to describe, its impact too ambiguous for words. to say that it's a "good" read is not quite cutting it. it touched upon many themes: from discovering one's true self by embracing one's sexuality, standing up for what one believes in despite the probability of derision, holding on to fragile hopes of a future free of tyranny in all forms, to electing modes of "escape" from the world at large and oneself in particular, and more.br /br /the interactions/dialogues between the characters were what i found very enjoyable rather than the descriptions and explanations of what they were doing. also, chabon refrained from being overly serious, contemplative, or even expansive. somehow what i got was the impression of "lightness"--but not the ha-ha kind of funny. certainly the intimations about the Jews in Europe, the view of homosexuals in the 1940s, and such were very heartwrenching. what balanced it for me was the inspiring friendship that formed between Sam and Joe.br /br /for me it was a bit of a struggle to begin this book, but halfway through, i suddenly found myself eating up the pages and wanting to know what will become of Joe and Sam, with their definitive life's work, and their struggle to to emancipate even just a handful of Jews, starting with Joe's family. br /br /whether you're a comic books nut or otherwise, this novel will stay with you for a long while. i expected blatantly daring-do's from the duo, and yet what i got was an intensely emotional and human experience during one of the darkest times of our history.
The amazing writing of the amazing Adventures April 10, 2008
What could be a more apt metaphor for the experience of Jewish survival in World War II then the escape artist? This novel is about 2 early comic book artists at the onset of the war who create the hero the Escapist among other great allegorical comic-book figures such as the Luna Moth. One of the pair, Josef Kavalier had escaped from Czechoslovakia having overcome comic-book-level complications and is forever scarred by the loss of the rest of his family and friends, in particular his brother Thomas. Thomas' escape from the Nazi's on the other hand was cut short at the last moment when his ship is sunk by a U-boat at the shores of America. This causes Josef to join the army but his experience of war turns out to be strangely life affirming though nonetheless difficult. Josef becomes psychologically stuck and unable to return to his normal life after the war; to his friends and lover he just disappears with no trace.br /br /But this book is not a downer; it cannot be as it is infused with such a creative and playful spirit. Josef's son Tommy, born while Josef was off at war, without knowing about his real father, is also fascinated by comic-books and magic. How Tommy helps his father finally return from the war, in a hyper-plot worthy of a extraordinary comic book, is the crux of the story. Though this novel has elements of the comic book it also has depth, rhythmic writing, imagery, smoldering sexuality and sophisticated, complicated feeling. The other main characters i.e. the other comic-book artist Sam Clay (the man who is strong and loyal enough to not escape) and Josef's love Rosa are marvelously realized.br /br /Here are just a couple of excerpts:br /br / (Tommy in the city) He heard men swearing and singing opera. On a sunny day, his peripheral vision would be spangled with the light winking off the chrome headlights ..., the buckles on ladies shoes, ... the bulldog ornaments on the hoods of irate moving vans. This was Gotham City, Empire City, Metropolis. Its skies and rooftops were alive with men in capes and costumes on the lookout for wrongdoers ...br /br / Tommy had his shoes off, his eye patch on, and half a pack of Black Jack in his mouth.br /br / (children watching a superhero about to jump) The slow, dull, dark submarine of their lives in which they were the human cargo had abruptly surfaced. Their blood was filled with a kind of crippling nitogen of wonderbr /
Only Comics, Until Now... April 5, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I'm a slow reader, sometimes I have to read a sentence a few times before it will stick. So after middle school I pretty much wrote off reading other than magazines and comic books. I have to say I was caught up in the story about 3 pages in from the 1st chapter. The way the author describes his setting and plot lines, a picture truly forms in your mind. A great story about a young jewish Kavalier escaping nazi controlled Prague, and finds himself in Brooklyn, NY meeting his cousin Klayman(Clay). Both are artist and looking to score on the new craze, the comic book. I guess I never really thought there was anything different than like wizards, love stories, suspense, or crime mysteries. Its inspired me to try and look for more obscure books that I can continue with my new found love of reading, and am on book #3 since reading the multi-award winning "Kavalier and Clay".
Amazing Adventures Indeed! March 28, 2008
This is a wonderful, "filled-to-the-brim" story! I had resisted reading it for years because it was so dense and lengthy looking. Then one day I just picked it up and started it and could not let it go. It is an adventure story, a story of a place and a time in America, a glimpse of the greatness and follies of the comic book industry, a story of families lost and found but not seen, and a very subtle but pervasive picture of the world of NY city during the atrocities of World War 2. br /br /Two cousins unite at a young age and form a block-buster comic team. One is a native New Yorker, the other, an immigrant from Prague who escaped after the Germans' took the city. One man is full of hope and bluster and self doubt; the other is broodingly talented, always looking back at what he has lost and not at what he has. br /br /They are in love with the same woman and when the cousin from Prague disappears with no clues, notes, or warning, he leaves behind his now pregnant girlfriend. He has no idea however as to her condition and when it becomes clear that he will not be returning anytime soon, the cousin from New York City does the honorable thing (and what he had hopelessly hoped for) and marries the girl. It is a loveless marriage, awkward with emotions stirring under the surface, but not to be spoken. The child, a boy, is delightful. But he is puzzled by his relationaship with his father, a situation no one will discuss with him. When he "real" father returns, much is revealed and yet much is also left q question.br /br /The story has great pathos, drama and humor. It is a story in the traditional sense of the word. It draws you in and keeps you wishing and hoping and looking to see what happens. And like life itself, the ultimate story, it ends with tangles, good outcomes, sadness, and a sense of being left behind, wondering where these people are today.
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