Books

by Micael Chabon

I’ve wanted to read this book for a while. It was one of the books I suggested to Book Group at one point, but it never made the cut. Luckily, Stepan got it at the Book Group Christmas party in the book exchange and we took it with us to Europe.

The first part of this book was by far the most intriguing. Young Joe Kavalier is a Jew in Prague in the late 1930s. Jews are suffering the indignities of the Reicht and their liberties are being eroded bit by bit…day by day. The Kavalier family bribed, bartered, and went bankrupt to secure passage for their oldest son, Joe (age 19) to America. Joe is stopped at the border on a technicality (a regulation that was changed just that morning) and sent back to Prague. He knows he can’t return to his parents who see Joe’s going to America as the salvation of the family so he seeks out a former teacher, the great Kornblum, master magician, escape artist, and lock pick. With Kornblum’s help, Young Joe manages to escape Prague.

Once in New York, his cousin, Sam Clay, introduces Joe to comic books and a legendary comic book team is born. With Sam creating the narrative and Joe’s incomparable illustrating talent, The Escapist is born and rivals anything that comes out of their competitor’s efforts. Enter the love interest, Rosa Saks, and you have a fascinating novel of friendship, fighting personal demons with pen and ink, sexuality, and war evolves.

I enjoyed this book and I’m glad I finally got an opportunity to read it.