Chabon's Adventures

Michael Chabon's Pulitzer prize winner The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay was published in 2000, winning the prize the following year. Chabon is one of the most admired writers of his generation, being acclaimed by numerous authors and specialized magazines. Born in May 24th 1963 in Washington, he quickly knew that he will be a writer.

 The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay shows the lives of the two cousins Joe Kavalier and Sam Clay. The narration goes from before the World War II to during and after it.
The novel, full of humor and scathing remarks, is a great recreation of the New York of the forties, with all the condiments that life deserves: love and philosophy tinged with absurdity. Because the two cousins will become main figures of the comic world, getting to create a Jewish superhero (the Escapist) who travels to Europe to fight Hitler.

Both Joe and Sam have a common personal superhero: the famous magician Harry Houdini. Joe, having escaped from Prague (from where he's native) using his magician's tricks learned at the expense of his master Kornblum, arrives to America and goes to live to his cousin's house. Joe then begins to work as an illustrator for a comic-book business. Joe's superhero, the Escapist, becomes a success, but for some reason his creator doesn't get that much attention.

The story then goes on to describe Joe's desire to rescue and save his family from the nazi's threats and Sam's struggle with his sexual identity.

The novel is great, and not for nothing won the Pulitzer Prize in 2001, for in it we find, in a world certainly fabulous, the conflicts of modern life.