The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
by Michael Chabon · 2000
Buy on AmazonThe novel begins in 1939 with the arrival of 19-year-old Josef "Joe" Kavalier as a refugee in New York City, where he comes to live with his 17-year-old cousin Sammy Klayman. Joe escaped from Prague with the help of his teacher Kornblum by hiding in a coffin along with the inanimate Golem of Prague, leaving the rest of his family, including his younger brother Thomas, behind. Besides having a shared interest in drawing, Sammy and Joe share several connections to Jewish stage magician Harry Houdini: Joe (like comics legend Jim Steranko) studied magic and escapology in Prague, which aided him in his departure from Europe, and Sammy is the son of the Mighty Molecule, a strongman on the vaudeville circuit.…
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"This Pulitzer-winning novel about two Jewish cousins creating comic books in the Golden Age of comics fits Steve Kerr's interest in stories of collaboration, creativity, and the American dream."
Steve Kerr's Recommended Reads · si.com
"I'd love to see a sequel to The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, because I just want to be in that world some more."
By the Book: Andrew Sean Greer · nytimes.com
"A total pleasure, full of joy and vigor. I didn't want it to end."
By the Book: Fareed Zakaria · nytimes.com
"For five days, I barely moved from the beach chair by the front of our rental, totally consumed by Chabon’s brilliant re-creation of the trashy, often sleazy comic book world."
By the Book: Jules Feiffer · nytimes.com