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In Nazi-occupied Prague, the Jews conspire to save their sacred golem, that clay character of ancient Jewish folklore who once came to life to save its people. Dressed as a dead man in a giant's suit, the golem escapes the country in a coffin, keeping alive hope--and a 19-year-old stowaway from the Germans. The golem was the world's first superhero. Guys in tights would come later.
While the golem disembarks in Lithuania, the stowaway, Josef Kavalier, arrives safely at his aunt's house in Brooklyn, N.Y. He finds a sidekick in his cousin Sam Clay, who understands that the necessary hero for their hard world is one who can escape it. The boys make comic books together, creating a Houdini-esque hero, the Escapist, who bounds through "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay," Michael Chabon's towering, swashbuckling thrill of a book.
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The comic books are a hit, and the boys dream that the popularity of the Escapist (he beats up Hitler) will induce the United States into war. Kavalier falls for Rosa Luxemburg Saks as his family is stuck in Prague, left to the Nazis. With this as a backdrop, the story goes looking for greater purpose.
In this, his third novel, Chabon leaps from the familiar territory of "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh" and "Wonder Boys" to a bolder endeavor. But there's still that pretty, clausey Chabon prose. The author has always had a thing for capers; this entire book, as the title suggests, is one itself. The thunderous plot is styled with a comic book's imagination and flourish, and sometimes Chabon gets carried away. The novel often winds up with an unfortunate, pulpy lack of subtlety. He points out the loss of innocence here, the American Dream there. Yet the themes are masterfully explored, leaving the book's sense of humor intact and characters so highly developed they could walk off the page. (His treatment of the sexual ambiguities of men in tights is particularly rich.) In the end, Kavalier fails in his attempt to become the Escapist himself, but Chabon has pulled off another great feat.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & ClayMichael Chabon
(Random House)
639 pages. $26.95
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