So since I’m going after all of my favorite authors (see my previous reviews of Vonnegut, Vonnegut, and Nick Hornby), I should probably after Michael Chabon, right? This book may not *quite* be at the level of High Fidelity or a lot of Vonnegut, but it’s a perfectly good, readable book in its own right. I’m not entirely sure that it’s the best Chabon out their either – that honor might go to Wonder Boys – but it’s a good, solid 2nd to me.
Every highly renowned “name” writer seems to have their schtick, the same way that a stand-up comedian might have theirs. You know what I’m talking about, right? Mitch Hedberg’s big thing was that he was a stoner, Patton Oswalt is the king of geeks, Dane Cook is the comic who isn’t funny, etc. Yeah, so for whatever reason, modern literary writers have evolved in a similar manner. I could put together a thousand-word essay as to why this is and the crazy ways that writers and stand-up comics are basically doing the same thing but to be honest that is too hipster even for me to inflict upon my readership. Anyway. Suffice it to say that “schticks” exist.
Chabon’s “schtick”, at least up to The Yiddish Policeman’s Union, is that he prominently features gay men in his books without making the books explicitly about homosexuality. His debut novel, Mysteries of Pittsburgh, concerns a young man trying to feel his way through life in, you guessed it, Pittsburgh, while trying to figure out exactly what his sexuality is (I don’t want to review *that* book here, but to Chabon’s credit it’s not exactly binary).* Wonder Boys had, for those of you who remember the movie, the relationship between the Toby Maguire character and the Rob Lowe character. And Kavalier and Clay continues this theme, as one of the main characters figures out his sexuality over the course of the book and then has to make some tough decisions as to whether he can afford to live a life as both a gay man and a comic book artist. Male sexuality is a topic that just doesn’t get covered very often, except in the classic heterosexual sense, and I think that Chabon is a very brave author for exploring this aspect of humanity.
The book also, as you might have guessed, appeals to me on a personal level due to the historical angle. It’s set in the 1930s in New York City, right smack at the beginning of the original comic book craze. Indeed, Kavalier and Clay themselves are based somewhat on Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, the artists for DC Comics who came up with the concept of Superman for Action Comics #1. The attention to detail by Chabon with the comics themselves is astounding (here I also have to admit to being an avid comic book fan in my youth, so this was an extra special thrill). There’s also cameos by Salvador Dali and Orson Welles because, well, you only get to write so many books about the 1930s, right? Oh yes, and some weirder bits about the Jewish mystical construct known as The Golem, which, before reading this book, I only knew about from Dungeons and Dragons.
This is maybe a bit more serious of a book than High Fidelity but I think it has the capacity to appeal to a similar group. It’s made a couple of “best novels of the 2000s”, which is fair, although as you can see from my own rating I might not *quite* put it at the level of The Catcher in the Rye or what have you.** It’s not made to be intentionally hard to get through and so its modernity turns it into a fairly quick read. This is not a book that will make you feel guilty for spending time on, so if you’re the kind of person who likes to alternate “great” works with “fun” ones, this could really fill either niche for you.
*Fun fact: according to wikipedia, he was actually profiled by Newsweek as being an “up and coming gay writer”. His wife, I am sure, was shocked to hear about this.
**I reserve the right…
A Book A Day, That's All We Ask 