The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay 

by Michael Chabon
A review by Marsha Robertson

I decided after reading the first couple of sections of this book that "The Escaping Adventures of Kavalier & Clay" would have been an apt title.  That thought also explains why I don't make my living in Marketing!  This is the first book by Michael Chabon that I have read, and I was pleased to be entertained by the story as well as being able understand some of the symbolism.

The story follows cousins Joe Kavalier and Sam Clay through about fifteen years of their lives, from their first meeting through their various partnerships and separations.  It also introduces their families, their friends, their co-workers, their comic book characters, and their enemies. 

I found an escape in almost every plot twist in the book.  In the beginning, Joe escapes from Prague.  Together, he and Sam escape from Sam's mother and grandmother.  They escape being poor by developing comic books.  Joe tries to help his brother escape from Europe and escapes romantic commitment by joining the military.  Sam escapes his single life and its perceived problems by marrying, and then later escapes the marriage.  When Joe and Sam can't escape a situation themselves, they have their comic book characters do it for
them.

The story by itself is quite enjoyable, and I became interested in the characters at the very beginning.  The descriptions of the early years of comic book development are appealing bits of historical fiction.  The symbolism is worked in well and does not detract from the plot, but parts of it might be a bit obvious for some readers.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay 

by Michael Chabon
A review by Robert Cox

"The Devil is in the details." This is an old contract lawyers maxim, and anyone who's ever had to carefully scrutinize a document looking for tiny legal loopholes will probably fall head over heels for Michael Chabon's near-epic tale of life, love, loss, and hope. The rest of the readers will likely "merely" love it.

Chronicling the lives of two cousins from the pre-W.W.II to the post-McCarthy Hearings era Chabon manages to combine many dualities in the experiences of the two central characters. The European vs. the American experience, the heterosexual vs. the homosexual experience, and many other (less easily labeled) personality traits relating to the ease of emotional expression, artistic expression, communication, and willingness to risk.

One of the reasons that all these contrasts are able to work over the course of this narrative is that Chabon creates people. There isn't one single two-dimensional character lurking within the pages of this novel, no easy task when dealing with a tale that encompasses so much (not to mention coming in at just over 650 pages in its paperback form). Everyone that impacts on the lives of our young heroes has the omniscient gaze of the narrator show us a meaningful slice of their life. No one is merely "the boss" or "the enemy" they are people with lives and loved ones. People whose good deeds are balanced by their bad, and wisdom balanced by their folly. In short, they are people from "real" life, and they help to create a solid foundation for Chabon to build his magic upon.

Of course, like any work of this length there are themes that crop up throughout the novel, and the most obvious and prevalent is the theme of escape.

If there is one area where the authors work verges on the heavy-handed (thankfully pulling up just short) it is with this main theme. There is the early decision of a young Josef Kavalier to become an escape artist by profession, followed by his necessity to escape an increasingly dangerous Europe, all the while hearing his old teacher's motto "Forget about what you are escaping from ... Reserve your anxiety about what you are escaping to." This is then followed by the creation of the cousins' central comic book hero "The Escapist," and while the origin tale helps to give us some wonderful insights into the future workings of the cousins' partnership the obviousness of the character's link to the central theme brings us to the brink of being "hit over the head" with it.

Thankfully, this is also the same point at which Chabon chooses to be more subtle in his exploration of said theme, choosing to focus the character's escapes inward rather than so obviously outward. To be sure the theme is still explored, but in most cases less literally. The emphasis at this point seems to be on the ugliness of what the characters have escaped to, rather than the escape itself. While this respite from the physical uprooting of characters will not be permanent (as seen in Joe's decision to enter the war, and Sam's later decision to travel to California) it is certainly long enough to keep the novel from reverting to a repetitive form.

Another tightrope that the author walks is in the vast amount of detail that is there for the reader to digest. From character description, to lavish detail of comic book art, to fictitious historical "footnotes" relating to the duo's impact on the comic book industry. For anyone who's ever picked up a comic book, there will be a nod of thanks in the authors direction for showing the kind of attention to detail that only a fanatic could love.

Again, the author treads dangerously close to bogging down the narrative with too much detail, but Chabon's natural writing pace forces the story along, making it easy to digest as much of the detail as the individual reader needs to keep up with the narrative (I found the author's attention to detail particularly rewarding on my second read-through, since I didn't have to spend so much time paying attention to the major plot lines).

Overall Mr. Chabon shows us a deft touch, at times flamboyant, at times muted, but always hitting the right note at the right time to make his characters nobly human in both their failures and successes.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay 

by Michael Chabon
A review by Vicky D.

I found myself getting very involved with the characters from when we first meet Josef Kavalier, to the ending when Samuel Klayman left.

Michael Chabon held my interest from beginning to end. I couldn't wait to see if Josef was going to finally escape and make it to America, to see what next adventure the cousin were going to come up with for their comic books and to see what else would happen to the cousins and their lives.

Chabon had a little bit of everything in this book adventure, action, romance, agnst and comedy. I laughed, I cried, I couldn't wait to get to the next chapter to see where the adventure or action would take them.

The mixture of facts and fiction sometimes had me wondering if these characters where really real. I enjoyed the fact the Chabon had written in one of my favorite subjects World War II and I got to read about what it was like to live in New York City and Long Island (where I live) in the 30's to the 50's. And yes I'm still trying to figure out what town Bloomtown is now (if there was such a name back then).

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay 

by Michael Chabon
A review by Lindalee Stahlman Volmert

I love books that make me want to know and read more.  AAK&C make me want to read more about New York City in the late 1930s to the early 1950s. It made me want to read more Jewish folklore.  I already have read some on comic book history but now I want to read even more.

BTW, has anyone else actually read _Seduction of the Innocent_ by Dr. Fredric Wertham?  I have.  The research in it is very flawed.  Dr. Wertham did prove that juvenile delinquents read comic books.  Thing is, they were the only ones he asked.  If he had surveyed most boys of a certain age (probably 8-15), he would have found out the majority read them.

Although I have experience leading book discussions, I don't have much experience writing reviews.  So what follows is just my thoughts on the book- I jotted things down as I read.

I have gone to comics conventions and read the comics journal so I liked that AAK&C mentioned both.

I regret that it is not as common today for people to be omnivorous readers as Sammy is described as being.

I enjoyed the references to comic book characters, writers, and radio shows that were scattered throughout AAK&C.

On Sammy changing his name from Klayman to Clay:  In college, I was a good friend with a guy whose last name was Greene.  Until 1929 or 1930, his family name had been Greenberg.  He said that it was changed because it was hard enough to get jobs during the depression-having a Jewish last name made it worse.

It was mentioned that often the scene of the cover of a comic had little relation to the material within.  Things have not changed.  One of the favorite panel topics I have ever attended at a science fiction convention was "What does that cover have to do with my book?!".

Wertham's book and the senate hearings on comics are mentioned several places.  I would be curious to know how many on the list actually realized before this that the U.S. Senate had held hearings on comics? Most people when I tell them about this are astonished.

I made lots of notes on things that I want to check to see if they were historically accurate.  With a book like AAK&C, that brings fictional characters into a real time surrounded by real happenings, it is sometimes hard to tell what is fictional and what is based on fact. As a former librarian, I found amusing the typical stereotype of a librarian that was the basis for Judy Dark who became Luna Moth.  When I was in library school, we were warned that people would often express astonishment that you had to get a Master's to be an accredited librarian.  It was mentioned that next thing you knew, those same people would be wondering where our horn rim glasses and the bun in our hair was.   So to the first guy who expressed surprise that librarian's needed a master's,  I said "Next thing you know, you'll be asking why I don't wear a bun in my hair or wear horn rim glasses".   He replied, "Actually, I was wondering about that".  :)

I also love books that make me look things up.  It was mentioned that the streets in Bloomtown (where Sammy and Rosa settled) were named after eminent scientists and inventors.  According to my Webster's dictionary, Lavoisier (their street name) was a pioneer in modern chemistry who was guillotined.

As I mentioned, I have read some comic book history.  As far as I could tell with my limited knowledge, this book was very accurate-for example about things like the demise of masked men.

I really identified with Tommy Clay.  I was also estranged from the world of other children (in my case because of a speech disability).

Was I the only one to see some parallel between the Golem graphic novel that Joe works on and _Maus: a survivor's tale_ by Art Spiegelman?  (For those not aware of this here is a short blurb from Amazon's editorial review: a true story of the Holocaust in comic form--the Jews are mice, the Germans cats, the Poles pigs, the French frogs, and the Americans dogs--Spiegelman compels the reader to imagine the action, to fill in the blanks that are so often shied away from. Reading Maus, you are forced to examine the Holocaust anew.)

I had never thought of Frankenstein as a golem before but I can certainly see the parallel now.

I don't want to offend anyone, but when Anapol mentions Baptist lunatics burning comic books, I couldn't help but think of the churches that have recently had bonfires of Harry Potter.  Unfortunately, it is often true that the more things change, the more they are the same.

One thing I do know is historically accurate-there is a group that holds a seance every Halloween to await Houdini's spirit.  For years, I joked I expected them to be drawn to my back yard as I  had a dog who I swore was the reincarnation of Houdini (come look at everything I had to do to jury rig my dog pen to keep her from getting out and you might believe so too).

I am the type of person who always wants to know more.  As a child, when I heard the classic ending "And they lived happily ever after", I wanted details!

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay 

by Michael Chabon
A review by Jenn (Lyekka)

Our heros, Sammy Clay and Joe Kavalier, provoke a wide range of emotion.  Joe's escape to the USA is filled with hope and the promise of a good future for both Joe and Sammy.  They overcome many hurdles and their comic books are a huge success.  The feeling of hope is capped, though, by the knowledge that Sammy and Joe don't actually have any rights to their creations.  Still, they are headed towards the life they dream of. 

At this point I was happy for both young men and was looking forward to the arrival of Joe's kid brother.  I was impressed with the author's portrayal of Sammy's budding homosexuality.  However, Michael Chabon flipped the emotion upside-down in one fell swoop.

Joe's loss of his brother hit him harder than he could handle and the mood of the novel took a nose dive.  Sammy's rejection of his homosexuality was a sad reminder of the danger of a homosexual lifestyle in the 1940s.  The theme of escape is continued with Joe leaving to fight the Nazis.  Joe and Sammy are all forced to live a depressing life until Joe's return to New York (aided by a rubber band jump off the Empire State Building).

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay 

by Michael Chabon
A review by Annie

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay 

by Michael Chabon
A review by Cynthia Ross

Yes, there is a constant theme of escape.  However, I found the characters escaping passively.  They knew what they wanted to escape from, but not how or where to escape to.  They'd manage to leave whatever situation that was necessary without finding the sanctuary or release that signifies the end of an escape.  Joe's early training reinforced the idea that  the main characters were, instead, performing illusions.  They were part of their own audiences too.  It seemed that while they were caught up in their comic book lives of heightened action and exaggeration, they were too distracted to notice the 'false pass' of escape from crisis to crisis.  It took 1950s bland suburbia (can you picture a more perfect symbol of “normal”) to expose the trick and finally make real escape to sanctuary possible. 

I did feel that Joe, Sam, Tom, and Rosa did finally escape at the very end of the book.  They literally succeed on the last page.  I liked that.  I found it enjoyable to follow the various conflicts, struggles and solutions without feeling any reduction in energy.  It was nice to have everything resolved, but not too early. In my opinion, Joe's life mirrored the heightened action of a comic book. He started his life, studying his interest in escapes and illusions, then left Prague as a golem, created an icon of pop culture, went to Antarctica (!) and left it as the sole survivor, and finally, was discovered to be living with a secret identity.  The poor lad had no boring normalcy to ground him when life got surreal.

The author made all the characters three dimensional, and, likable to me.  I could sympathize with all of them at some time.  The development of all the characters into flawed, but humane individuals was a nice touch, considering comic books tend to have simply Evil Villains.  I guess the idea was to heighten the awareness indirectly of the real villain Joe and Sam were combating during the war.

The progression of the story was comfortable and easy to follow.  The novel slipped from character to character, and from reality to comic book plot effortlessly.  The interaction between fictional and nonfictional characters gave a nice parallel to the comic book plots, and their interaction with the reality that inspired them.

It was quite interesting and humorous to see the development (pun intended) of Luna Moth.  At least it touched on a personal pet peeve without making me grind my teeth.

I really, really, liked the golem angle.  The giant whose clothes were used to dress the golem was the first one I noticed.  He protected Joe by indirectly making the transport out of Czechoslovakia possible (golems can't have sentient control).  Joe seemed to be one when Sammy met him.  The Escapist of course was the boys' golem, trying to protect Joe's family. Even Rosa at times struck me as a golem by protecting Sam from prejudice, evolving under his supervision, and blindly accepting Joe in whatever state he was in.

Isn't it interesting that this book didn't generate nearly the same amount of discussion as “Enigma of Arrival”?  I think that's because we were all carried away with the story this time.  I think we generally liked the characters and cared about what happened next.  We didn't need to stop and check if any one else was wondering why this book was published. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone.  It stimulates introspection, humour, empathy, or just an escape from reality.