The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
The book follows the lives of two Jewish cousins, Czech artist Joe Kavalier and Brooklyn-born writer Sammy Clay, before, during, and after World War II.Dark Horse Comics also published a comics-format "sequel" to the novel: The Escapists, written by Brian K. Vaughan, and illustrated by Jason Shawn Alexander and Steve Rolston.[citation needed] The novel opens in 1939, with the arrival of 19-year-old Josef "Joe" Kavalier as a refugee in New York City, where he comes to live with his 17-year-old cousin, Sammy Klayman in Brooklyn.As he becomes romantically involved with Rosa Saks, a bohemian with her own artistic aspirations, Joe's drive to help his family shows through in his work, which remains anti-Nazi despite his employer's concerns.Meanwhile, Sammy grapples with his sexual identity, eventually entering a secret relationship with Tracy Bacon, the handsome actor who voices the Escapist on the radio.Tommy, unaware of his father's true identity, encounters Joe and begins to secretly take private magic lessons from him in the Empire State Building.The novel's period roughly mirrors that of the Golden Age of Comics itself, starting from shortly after the debut of Superman and concluding with the Kefauver Senate hearings, two events often used to restrict the era.[10] Writing in New York Magazine, Daniel Mendelsohn remarked that while he's unsure of the exact definition of a Great American Novel, he is "pretty sure that Michael Chabon's sprawling, idiosyncratic, and wrenching new book is one".He said that the novel is preoccupied with "vast and sober American themes: the meaning and mechanics of cultural assimilation, the search for moral and emotional identity in an indifferent world, the transformative role of popular entertainment in the lives of individuals and the nation itself", as well as "love, death, guilt, and redemption".[20] Producer Scott Rudin bought the screen rights to The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay for Paramount Pictures based on a one-and-a-half page pitch before the novel had been published.[24] In January 2005, Chabon posted on his website that "about a month ago, there was a very brief buzzing, as of a fruit fly, around the film version of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.[26] In June 2006, Chabon maintained that Portman was still "a strong likelihood for the part of Rosa", and listed a number of important plot points present in the book that would be left out of the movie.[27] Jamie Caliri, director of music videos and short films, posted two and a half minutes of concept footage on his Vimeo channel, stating, "this piece was made as part of the development process...[31] In a December 2011 interview, Stephen Daldry stated that he was considering making a Kavalier & Clay adaptation as a television miniseries rather than a feature film, preferring to do it "on HBO as an eight-parter...[32] In 2019, CBS TV Studios signed a multi-year production pact with Chabon and his wife and writing partner Ayelet Waldman including plans to adapt the novel as a Showtime series.