THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY, by Michael Chabon

Michael Chabon's 2004 Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is a wonderful, tragic yet humorous and spirited story of an unlikely team of creative geniuses (a loner Jewish kid from Brooklyn and his immigrant cousin from Prague) who find themselves in the midst of a pop culture movement - comic books - at the right time in history. The story runs from 1939 to 1954, from the heady pre-war golden days of the superhero comics, to the genre's decline in the postwar suburban culture. The narrative of the pair, Sammy and Joseph is sometimes told together and sometimes separately, as their lives and that of their loved ones take interesting turns. Steeped in the "colorful" comic book subculture, the book is rich with NYC late 30s-early 50s culture, reminiscent of Doctorow's treatment. The book also brings another great novel that is immersed in comic book culture, Jonathan Lethem's Fortress of Solitude. It's a beautifully written book from an important contemporary writer of great strength.

For a review of the book from NY Times (and a link to an interview with Chabon and chapter one of the book), click here: http://www.nytimes.com/books/00/09/24/reviews/000924.24kalfust.html