I picked up ‘The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay’ when it was selection for book group I belong to. The book group fizzled out, but I am grateful to the members for bringing this book to my attention.
The plot is fairly simple. The book opens with the introduction of Sammy Clay, a 17 year old Jewish boy in 1939 Brooklyn. Sammy is wary of his cousin Joe, who has just arrived in Brooklyn, the destination of his long journey to escape occupied Prague.
The two young men bond over cigarettes and comic books. The full stories of the two main characters are revealed as they form a successful partnership producing comic books superheroes to fight the Nazis.
There is much more to this novel that a plot summary can communicate, so I will leave it there. A quick search on the Author or title will yield an exhaustive list of superlatives used by various reviewers to describe this book. The praise is well deserved.
The story is engaging, and the characters are interesting. The writing is intelligent but not stuffy, witty without being cynical.
This book reminds me that fiction can be about great writing, not just story telling. I would recommend this book for anyone who reads books.
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