Ira Mark Milne (editor) - A Study Guide for Michael Chabons The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (For Students)

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ISBN-13: 978-0-7876-8682-6

ISBN-10: 0-7876-8682-4

ISSN 1094-3552

Printed in the United States of America

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The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

Michael Chabon

2000

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, by Michael Chabon, was published in 2000 to critical and popular acclaim. Some critics found Chabon's novel overly long, but all agreed that it is stylistically sound and well written. Kavalier & Clay took the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2001 and has drawn as much notice as Chabon's previous book, Wonder Boys, which was made into a feature film. Kavalier & Clay is an epic tale that is topically unique within Chabon's body of work but stylistically consistent with his distinctive, graceful use of language.

Drawing on his own love of comic books for Kavalier & Clay, Chabon deftly weaves historical facts and figures together with light touches of fantasy. The author's inspiration in part came from Superman's creators: two Midwestern Jewish boys, Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, who sold their nascent superhero to the publisher of Detective Comics (DC Comics) for a hundred and thirty dollars. Kavalier & Clay follows two Jewish cousins in New York City, Joe Kavalier and Sammy Clay, who grow into adulthood during the onset of World War II. They experience fame, tragedy, love, and a little bit of magic. With its clever mix of literary self-consciousness and shameless adventure, Kavalier & Clay is one of those rare books which appeal to readers of both serious and popular fiction.

Michael Chabon (pronounced shay-bon) was born May 24, 1963, in Washington, D.C., to Robert and Sharon Chabon. His father worked as a lawyer, physician, and a hospital manager; his mother as a lawyer. His parents divorced when he was eleven years old. Chabon grew up in Columbia, Maryland, while most of that planned city was still being constructed. He was introduced to comic books as a child by his grandfather, who brought them home from the plant where he worked. Chabon earned a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from the University of Pittsburgh in 1984 and a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing at the University of California at Irving.

Chabon has been a successful writer since the publication of his first novel, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh (1988), which was his master's thesis and became a bestseller. His second novel, Wonder Boys (1995), was made into a feature film in 2000, starring Michael Douglas. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (2000) won Chabon the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. As of 2006, a film adaptation was reportedly in the works. With Summerland (2002), Chabon dabbled in the young adult market and won the 2003 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award. The Final Solution, a short novel about Sherlock Holmes, was published in 2004.

As of 2006, Dark Horse Comics, in conjunction with Chabon, was publishing a quarterly comic book edition of The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist, drawing on the fictional history of this superhero. The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist won the 2005 Eisner Award for Best Anthology. Chabon has also published two volumes of short stories and a number of screenplays, including part of the popular movie Spider-Man 2 (2004).

Chabon often writes about Jewish identity, homosexuality, and single parenthood.

Chapter 1

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay begins in October 1939. Josef Kavalier has just arrived in New York City after escaping Nazi-occupied Prague. He hopes that his cousin Sammy Klayman can help him find a job because he needs money to free his family.

Chapter 2

In trying to leave Czechoslovakia, Josef is sent back to Prague on a paperwork technicality. Too ashamed to face his family, he asks his former mentor Bernhard Kornblum for help. Kornblum agrees so long as Josef will go by way of Lithuania.

Chapter 3

It is 1935 and fourteen-year-old Josef attempts a dangerous escape feat that results in his near drowning and that of his brother Thomas. They are saved by Kornblum. Thereafter, Kornblum ceases his escape artist instruction of Josef.

Chapter 4

Kornblum and Josef find where the Golem has been hidden and prepare it for travel disguised as the corpse of a giant. Josef smuggles himself inside the casket. Once in Lithuania, he secures papers to get him to San Francisco.

Chapters 1-3

Sammy and Josef pick grown-up, American names: Sam Clay and Joe Kavalier. Inspired by Joe's artistic skill, Sammy pitches a comic book idea to his boss Sheldon Anapol, who reluctantly accepts it. They have to develop a superhero character and a twelve-page story in three days. Joe and Sammy start planning right away. They run into Julius Glovsky, called Julie, and hire him on the spot. Julie takes them to his brother's apartment to work.