On The Bookshelf

Artist

ARTHUR SALM

In Jewish author Michael Chabon's
epic novel, characters find fame
and fortune with their invention
of a Houdini-like comic-book superhero
who fights the forces of Nazi oppression.

and convinces the employer to publish his comic books rather
Copley News Service
than advertise cheesy wares in others. Joe and Sammy will cre-
ate the characters, write the stories, draw the panels ... and get
t may or may not be a stretch — it probably is, but
cheated out of royalties; this is, after all, an American story.
what better way to introduce a tale? — to point out
But that comes later, as does Luna Moth, Mistress of the
that it was in 1938, as darkness descended on the
Night; a dizzying, dazzling set piece in Greenland; Senate hear-
Jews of Europe, that
ings on the deadly influence of comic books; and
Joe Shuster and Jerry
the playing out of an exceptionally odd yet ulti-
Siegel, a couple of young
mately satisfying three-way relationship.
Jewish guys from
All of which is revealed in Chabon's swooping,
Cleveland, introduced
swirling, death-defying prose: elegant and precise yet
their creation: Superman.
push-it-to-the-edge daring. The writing never calls
Economically, too, the
attention to itself, but some of his paragraphs should
timing was ideal, as
be earmarked for inclusion in writing anthologies.
Michael Chabon notes in
As a stylist, Chabon (The Mysteries of Pittsburgh,
his big, sprawling new
Wonder Boys) -- who
novel, The Amazing
plies his craft in
Adventures ofKavalier &
Berkeley, Calif, where
Like Chabon's novel
Clay (Random House;
he
lives with his wife,
"Wonder Boys,"
$26.95). Superman spear-
Ayelet
Waldman, also
"The Amazing
headed America's newest art
a
novelist,
and his
Adventures of
form and articulated its
children
—
is one of
Kavalier and Clay"
purpose: "to express the lust
the best. As a story-
is likely headed
for power and the gaudy
teller, he's just about as
to the big screen.
sartorial taste of a race of
good.
powerless people. Comic
He can write
books were kids stuff, pure
funny, he can
and true, and they arrived
write wry, he
at precisely the moment
can rip your
when kids in America
heart out and,
began, after 10 years of ter-
without stirring
rible hardship, to find their
Author Michael Chabon,
up so much as
pockets burdened with the occa-
writing in "The Amazing
trace elements
sional superfluous dime."
Adventures of Kavalier 6.--
of sentiment,
Take a deep breath, look
Clay": "They're allJewish,
gently put it
around, get your bearings:
superheroes. Superman, you
back again. If
Things can happen fast in a
don't think he's Jewish?
this were the
Michael Chabon novel.
Coming over from the oral
sports section,
Turning to the first page is like
country, changing his name
now would be
getting yanked out of the water
like that. Clark Kent, only
the time say that
by a speedboat.
a Jew would pick a name
the guy can do
Czechoslovakia, 1938: Joe
it all.
like that for himself"
Kavalier, 18, gifted artist and
With "the
protege of the famed illusionist
Escapist," a comic-
Bernard Kornblum, pulls off the
book character forged
greatest escape of all. Sealed in a coffin with perhaps the most
in a marathon brainstorming session fueled by youthful brava-
intriguing of all superheroes — to say more would divulge an
do and countless packs of cigarettes, Joe and Sammy achieve
astonishing, near-miraculous subplot — Joe breaks free of the
almost instant success. Most Escapist adventures find the hero
Nazi empire, making his way to Romania, then Japan and
fighting fascism, often delivering roundhouse punches to
finally to the Brooklyn apartment of his cousin, Sammy Clay.
Hider's Teutonic mug (actually, to the kisser of a Hitler-esque
The very next morning, Sammy hauls Joe to the offices of his
character; the publisher, hilariously, fears litigation).
employer, a manufacturer of such items as whoopee cushions,
ESCAPE ARTIST on page 81

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