The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay

Title: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

Author: Michael Chabon

Pages: 636

Genre: Fiction

Grade: B

Synopsis: Joe Kavalier emigrates from Prague to New York City in the late 1930's (via Japan) and moves in with his cousin Sam Clay. They begin writing and illustrating comic books and making a great deal of money on them. Joe eventually joined the Navy because he wanted to redeem the deaths of his family members. This is the story of their entwined lives.

Why I Chose This Book: I have seen this book mentioned on multiple "top 10" booklists.

My Review: This book is a very difficult one for me to review. There were parts of the book that I really enjoyed and there were parts that I simply loathed. The f-word was used a fair number of times (although other swearing was minimal) and gay activities are described (gratefully not in detail) which made me uncomfortable. Often the book was a slow read and is rather long. There are still many parts of the book that move along fairly well. The best part of the book are the descriptions that the writer supplies.

From the Book: "(p. 70, Sammy speaking to Joe) At Empire they put out a whole bunch of items that make farting sounds. A fart, you know what that means?" Sammy clapped the cupped palm of one hand to the opposite armpit and pumped his arm, squirting out a battery of curt, wet blasts. His cousin, eyes wide, got the idea. "Naturally, we can't say it outright in the ads. We have to say something like 'The Whoopee Hat Liner emits a sound more easily imagined than described.' So you really have to get it across in the drawing."

"(p. 255, Joe) He leaned forward to kiss her again. They bumped teeth, and it made him weirdly aware of all the bones in his head. her tongue was milk and salt, an oyster in his mouth. She put her hands on his shoulders, and he could feel her getting ready to push him away, and then after a moment she did."

"(p. 408) Sammy pursed his lips and allowed a long strand of saliva to dangle downward, tipped by a thick bubbled bead. The bubble lowered itself like a spider on its thread until it hung just over Bacon's face. Then Sammy reeled it back in. It had been years since he had last attempted the trick, and he was pleased to discover that his spittle retained its viscosity and he his pinpoint control of it."