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)

A true classic in every sense of the word.

A masterpiece.

I won't forget this book until the day I die.

A worthwhile and entertaining read, through and through.

An unexpected favorite!

What a wonderful book! I picked up this book knowing Michael Chabon was a well reviewed author, and I thought the tie in to the comic book world would be fun. This book is so much more. A story of cousins forced together in New York by the world events of late 1930s Eastern Europe. Their growth as partners and friends. Their struggles in New York amongst the growing tension towards war and racial divides and conflict. The comic book world, booming in the pre ware years and dwindling in the post war years, for fear of corrupting young minds. Struggling artists, though talented making the hard climb up to be recognized and fairly compensated for their work. I highly recommend this one!

Beautiful

After a second reading, this is still on my favorite books of all time. Stunning.

Rich and entertaining

Of course the prize-winning novel is entertaining and thought provoking; the audio is wonderful: the narrator does an excellent job rendering the rich panoply of characters.

Fantastic book

Superb story reader and recording! Recommend also reading Wilipedia article about this book and author.

Amazing indeed

Very enjoyable read. Though longer than most audible books it did not feel long. The comic book part of the story is just the vehicle. This is a story of love and friendship. Also a story about following your heart. I see why the book won a Pulitzer; the story has no weaknesses of character, style or imagination.

Bland narration

Narration could have been more creative. Using the same voice for every character shows lack of imagination.

not jewish, not male, not a comics reader

I will read anything by Michael Chabon. Yet, I worried about this book - what do I know or care about the comics? in the end, it was a story with fabulous characters (and a bit of history), well told, that captured me. Chabon doesn't disappoint!
A small plus is that 'Golem' is now in my vocabulary.

the best 🥰

I loved this book very much. It took a little bit for me to get totally into it, but once I was, it proved to be one of the best pieces of literature I've ever red or listen to. It is heartfelt and beautiful. I enjoyed it so much. :-)

So subtly brilliant

The brilliance of this writing is so subtle, I fear it will be lost on many. If I had been listening with another person, I would have stopped over and over to make sure they caught the unique, never-cliche descriptions of things and the storytelling that makes you feel the writer must've experience 100 different lives himself to have felt the characters so deeply. Some say the ending was so so, it was perfect -- just as it had to be without ruining the whole story and making some dramatic "artistic" statement. Truly a masterpiece.