The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

By: Michael Chabon

Narrated by: David Colacci

Length: 26 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

Pulitzer Prize, Fiction, 2001

It's 1939, in New York City. Joe Kavalier, a young artist who has also been trained in the art of Houdiniesque escape, has just pulled off his greatest feat: smuggling himself out of Hitler's Prague. He's looking to make big money, fast, so that he can bring his family to freedom. His cousin, Brooklyn's own Sammy Clay, is looking for a partner in creating the heroes, stories, and art for the latest novelty to hit the American dreamscape: the comic book.

Inspired by their own fantasies, fears, and dreams, Kavalier and Clay create the Escapist, the Monitor, and the otherworldly Mistress of the Night, Luna Moth, inspired by the beautiful Rosa Saks, who will become linked by powerful ties to both men. The golden age of comic books has begun, even as the shadow of Hitler falls across Europe.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is a stunning novel of endless comic invention and unforgettable characters, written in the exhilarating prose that has led critics to compare Michael Chabon to Cheever and Nabokov. In Joe Kavalier, Chabon has created a hero for the century.

©2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc. (P)2000 Michael Chabon

Critic reviews

"Michael Chabon can write like a magical spider, effortlessly spinning out elaborate webs of words that ensnare the reader with their beauty and their style." (Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times)

Well deserved Pulitzer selection

I picked this up because it tells a fictionalized yet plausible history of comics that is closely tied to the actual history. Comics are a huge cultural movement now and have made their way into pop culture via film adaptations. It is a helpful and interesting history while providing insight as to why they are still so popular. What makes this book great is that even if the subject matter were different, the characters and story are interesting enough to keep you reading.

Enjoyed even more the 2nd time

GREAT character storylines interwoven and delivered with love and care by a seasoned narrator. I read this a number of years ago and bought it on Audible after some hesitation because some “second reads” disappointed me. Not this one!

A masterpiece

A story that was hard to put down. wonderfully written with many memorable lines and big themes.

Fantastic

I had no idea how wonderful this book would be and where it would take me during the lives of Sam clay and joe kavalier. The narrator was the best! Recommend this highly! I miss the characters and think about them often. May recommend to my book club.

Fantastic story and performance

This was one of the best audio books I have listened to out of many good ones. The voices were great.

Didn’t hate it or love it

It’s worth a read. That being said, it’s a lot of work to read. The characters are very interesting. The dialogue is good. But the prose are overwritten at times, enough to be distracting. The writing draws attention to itself in places and away from the story. But the major issue with the book is that it is bloated. It could have benefited from cutting 20-30% and that seems like it would increase the pace. But what do I know. It’s a Pulitzer.

Loved all 26 hours of this book

Loved this book — the story, the writing and the reader. Didn’t want it to end

Epic

This is a wonderful story and writing . The characters were given life by superb narration.

Excellent story and narration

I fully enjoyed this book and hated to have it end. The story is brilliantly created from beginning to end.

A tapestry of an alternative family life

The Amazing Adventures of K & C is an extraordinary look at at rare collaborative business friendship. Two cousins play their artistic strengths off each other during a tumultuous few decades in America and Europe. Chabon gives us a tantalizing view of comic book creativity and the scrappy publishing industry that exploited it prior to WWII in his tale of two enterprising cousins trying to imagine an American dream. But it is Joe Kavalier and Sammy Clay’s loves and losses that invest us in the story.

David Colacci inhabits and enlivens each character.