The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

By: Michael Chabon

Narrated by: David Colacci

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)

Even Narrator's Need an Editor

What made the experience of listening to The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay the most enjoyable?

This is a fantastic story, with amazing characters about whom you really care.

What did you like best about this story?

The characters.

What three words best describe David Colacci’s performance?

Can't do accents.

If you could take any character from The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Joe Kavalier.

Any additional comments?

I've been listening to audiobooks for a few months now and truly love them. They make my commute more than bearable and my "reading" has increased enormously. THAT SAID... do the people who make these books just put the narrators in front of a microphone and leave the room? Does nobody check how the "hard words" or foreign expressions are actually pronounced? Could audible not find a narrator who knew maybe even, would it be so hard to find, a little bit of Yiddish? And could this narrator fellow, this David Colacci, not have done maybe a little bit of research to distinguish the differences among German, Czech and Russian accents? Would that have killed somebody? Would that be so terrible?

Bubbe, when referring to a Jewish grandmother is pronounced Buh-bee. "My [buh-bee] makes great brisket." Bubbie -- sometimes also spelled bubbe -- is a shortened form of bubeleh. It is what your Jewish grandmother might call you when she pinches your cheek. It is hard to parse out phonetically in English, but the "u" is pronounced like the sound following the "c" in the word, could. So, using "oul" to represent that sound, that word is pronounced boul-bee. Funny one word means grandmother, and the other is usually used in reference to a child.

The mixing up of these two terms by the narrator drove me nuts. That nobody in the chain of listeners before this audiobook went public didn't know or didn't care makes me meshuge. The grandmother should have been buh-bee, not boul-bee. If it happened once, ok. But multiple times? Oye! Not good. In short he was referring to the grandmother using a term meant for a child.

The Czech accent is a beautiful one... think of the Hungarian accent of the Gabor sisters; it sounds like that. The narrator of this book decided that all Czechs sound like Russians, something akin to having someone with a French accent sound like they're from the United States.

Well Written, But Not My Favorite

I really had no idea what The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay was about when I started listening. It had been on my "wish list" list for quite awhile and I just randomly decided to grab it. I can't help but think that a three star review seems awfully negative, but, really, I liked the novel; I just didn't love it.

Michael Chabon's work is undeniably well written. The characters are incredibly realistic, as is the setting. If I didn't know any better, I would believe that Chabon grew up in New York City in the 1940s. He must have done an incredible amount of research to pull off the setting so convincingly.

Perhaps because the audiobook was split up into three files, the novel felt to me like it had three acts. The first act was really an introduction to the characters and their business endeavors, the second act was largely a love story, and the third was the war and beyond. I could elaborate, but I'll refrain to avoid spoilers.

I really liked the first act. It was really interesting to see how Sammy and Joe take part in the birth of superhero comics, and The Escapist was frankly awesome. I also largely enjoyed the second act. I found Rosa to be interesting, quirky, and a wonderful compliment to the existing cast of characters.

My biggest issue was the third act. I just didn't enjoy it very much. I understand why Chabon chose for the story to go the way it did, but it started to wear on me and finishing the story became a bit of a slog, especially because the conclusion was both expected and inevitable, but not particularly satisfying.

Overall, I enjoyed the novel, especially the parts about The Escapist, but it wasn't my favorite and I wouldn't recommend it to just anyone. I think this one takes more of a patient reader than some of the novels that I tend to like.

Masterful on every level

Would you consider the audio edition of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay to be better than the print version?

I am new to audiobooks and am reveling in their power. I'd picked up "Kavalier and Clay" several years ago and gotten bogged down by the sheer size of the volume--a real doorstop of a novel. But I'd always wanted to read it, and am grateful for this superb audio version. In that sense: yes, the audiobook was better for me than the print book.

What did you like best about this story?

The historical sweep, the sense of what World War II meant to Americans and Europeans on a personal, experiential level, the complexity and reality of the characters, and (as always with Chabon) the delicacy, respect, and sensuality with which he treats gay characters. I'm not sure where this straight author's fascination with homosexuality comes from, but he is one of the greatest of our "gay" writers. He dramatizes the struggles of Jewish people and the struggles of gay people with an almost uncanny empathy.

Which character – as performed by David Colacci – was your favorite?

David Colacci nailed everyone, but his portrayal of Joe Kavalier took my breath away.

Any additional comments?

"K & C" has the sweep and depth of a classic nineteenth-century novel--a book of great intelligence, imagination, and depth.

A fantastic dramedy

Excellent narration and subeprb storytelling. This book is a wonderful dramedy, keeps great pace, is true to its characters, and is surprising at each turn. Will listen to again.

Brilliant!

This is a wonderful novel, funny and poignant, imaginative yet grounded in history. One of the best contemporary novels I've ever read. The narration is excellent.

No wonder this won a Pulitzer!

Just listen to it. You'll be glad you did. Amazing characters, great insight into the history of comics, important social commentary, all wrapped up in beautiful words.

Where’s the follow up

I want more!!! Deep, developed, interesting g, moving. Perhaps there’s a continuation of it ?I don’t ever want to good book to end.

Thoroughly recommend

Loved it. Great narration, compelling well crafted story. Chabon is an very eloquent writer and brings this story to life

Needed a good editor

Very convoluted. Pulitzer Prize material? Not. Wandered all around comic book land to end rather let down.

Astounding and real!

Amazing book. Story was engrossing. Performance was perfection. Feel like I know this family and the slice of the lives they led.