The Real Wonder Boys

A faster read than a Grisham book. More powerful than an Oprah pick. Able to win Pulitzer Prizes in a single bound edition. Look! Up on the bookshelf! It's pulp fiction! It's serious literature! It's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay! Yes it's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, written by a strange visitor from Pittsburgh who came to the literary world with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, a book that can change the course of mighty literary trends, bend public discourse in its bare hands, and which, disguised as Michael Chabon's latest novel, a mild-mannered bestseller for a great metropolitan readership, fights a never-ending battle for Truth! Justice! and the American Way!

Pretty cheesy, that. But good cheese, no? Actually, the above is just a thinly veiled attempt to usher you into the world of super-hero comic books that Michael Chabon has created for this book. It is a world of convenient coincidences, of nick-of-time rescues, of unbelievable happenstance, and hyper-romanticism. It�s a world whose characters are drawn in two tones (black or white), where good and evil combat in epic struggles, and little boys pay ten cents an issue to read about it. It�s an entirely made up world, embracing its own fictionality, but one that the reader can easily get lost in. Chabon has written a book that takes the conventions of the comic book and exploits them. If you encounter a situation here that tests the boundaries of reality, try reading it as if spread over six cheerily drawn panels. It�ll make much more sense that way.

The reason for this technique, if I may be so bold as to articulate it, is quite simple: Escapism. Joe Kavalier at one point lists the reasons why he loves his comic books: �for their inferior color separation, their poorly trimmed paper stock, their ads for air rifles and dance courses and acne creams�� But most importantly, for this young man newly escaped from occupied Prague, for the way they allowed young boys to escape from reality and dream their dreams. It�s a pretty moving message. Joe and his cousin Sammy Clay (nee Clayman) create a comic book superhero to exploit this theme, named appropriately enough �The Escapist�. It�s popularity ends up rivaling Superman and Batman. I�m not going to tell you what Sammy is escaping from, for that would ruin one of the book�s best and most tastefully portrayed surprises.

However, all is not painted in comic book artificiality. In fact, much of the book�s sub-text is quite poignant and real. I mean, the book�s title, which looks very comic-esque, is actually quite ironic. The boys� adventures aren�t really that amazing together (it�s run-of-the-mill, everyday stuff, except for a huge joint success). Joe has some topsy-turvy times himself, and Sammy�s are more internal and domestic than anything. Even their names are ironic. Joe is certainly not cavalier about the cause he finds himself obsessed with. Sammy�s clay (his �fundamental nature or spirit�) remains hidden for the majority of the book, only drawn out against his will. Chabon only uses the comic book template as an easy entry point into this world. After that, he creates some complex human situations. And the book is set in and around a very real New York City, during its golden era. Not only are the city�s alleyways and seedy apartments and subways represented, but so are some of its most famous landmarks. It�s no coincidence that the Empire State Building stands tall and proud on the cover of the book�s first paperback edition. It plays a major role in many of the boys� �adventures�. As does the recent World�s Fair, in a minor but crucial way.

The knock here is that Chabon�s prose is a little too purple, a little too flowery, with a vocabulary that may stymie the majority of his readers. Frankly, I�ve read prose infinitely more difficult. Chabon, by comparison, is actually quite an easy, straightforward read. And for a 600+ page book with little in the way of narrative thrust, it�s quite a page-turner. He has a sly little sense of humour, littering the text with some very silly, sarcastic moments (e.g., a brainstorming session almost ends with Kavalier & Clay�s super hero being called �The Mandrill�, with his �multicolored wonder a-s that he used to bedazzle opponents�). But for the most part the book has a very somber tone. Before you begin, though, do yourself a favour and read up on the legend of the Golem (and not just in the Tolkien sense of the world). It�ll help you to better understand many of the book�s themes.

Chabon has done a wonderful job mixing a lot of research on comic book history (and I mean a lot), with a fake comic book history (perfectly believable in this context), with a story about two young men trying to live the American Dream. Don�t be afraid by the book�s heft; it�s an exciting read, filled with suspense and cliffhanger endings, just like a real comic would be.