Rating: 
Summary: Amazing
Review: Newsweek said that this is a "towering, swash-buckling thrill of a book." It's all that and more. You've never read anything like it. The subject matter is completely unique, the plot is compelling, and the writing itself is a pure joy.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining
Review: All readers will enjoy this big, fun book. It is full of humour with characters and descriptions that are slightly larger than life, in keeping with that which drives the plot forward - the history of comic books in the Unites States. I recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: Great story, great writing, great reading! This was truly one of the most unique experiences I've had with a book. I'll admit I was somewhat put off by the premise, but Chabon is a great writer with so much talent that anything in his hands turns to gold!Also recommended: McCrae's BARK OF THE DOGWOOD
Rating:
Summary: NO PULP-NOVEL
Review: This has to be the best book I've read in years. I wasn't a Chabon fan before. I saw "Wonder Boys" but didn't read the book. Ho-hum. This is a hum-dinger. What a great story! What passion for the world he takes us into! What a fantastic blend of fact and fiction! Are they making this into a movie? If not, why? This would be terrific in the right hands, an expansive, whimsical Oscar-sweeper... and they could scratch the north pole station bit in the movie... it was okay in the book, but if I had to criticize any part of the book, it would be only there that my attention flagged a bit. It was an important element and I was with Joe all the way, but it went on too long. Chabon fell victim to making a character too likable, so that when tragedy struck, it rips the reader's heart out, too. You need to mourn with him for a bit, but then enough already, let's get him back home where he belongs. And the stuff with his son, following him around the newsstand as he buys the latest copy of The Escapist... brilliant. Others have said the same, but when this book ended, I was depressed. I actually deliberately read only one chapter a night once I was halfway through, despite the fact that I was dying to read more, so that the ride would last a little longer. Thanks to Mr. Chabon. This was special.
Rating:
Summary: Great premise
Review: Not only a great premise, but a great execution as well. Set in New York and Prague, this brilliant work of fiction is truly an amazing adventure. If you're a fan of the comics, or even if you're not, you'll enjoy this tale. The characters could have been literal cartoon figures--flat, melodramatic--but in Chabon's hands they come alive on the page. Also recommended: Empire Falls, Middlesex, Bark of the Dogwood
Rating:
Summary: chabon chabon chabon
Review: my favorite book by a living author. chabon's prose is absolutely gorgeous. like a more elegant version of nabokov. (yea, i said it. and im not taking it back either. haha.) the emotional depth of created in the characters of joe and sam is astounding. read this.
Rating:
Summary: good good read, and long so it lasts...
Review: but not long enough! I was sad when this good read was over. Though it's a relatively thick novel, were it 10 times as long it would still have ended too soon. The world that Chabon creates in "The Amazing Adventures..." is indeed amazing and recalls the wistfulness and wonderful world of childhood/youthfulness. In the myriad situations and dilemmas in which the characters are involved, hope appears to spring eternally from these young hearts. The fantastical aspects of the book are enchanting, and a susupension of disbelief is inevitable when we are enmeshed in the lives of these romantic characters who may physcially age through the course of the story but whose essences never grow old. By far the best of Chabon's novels which i've had the pleasure of reading, this is a keeper! Ain't Pulitzer-worthy for naught!
Rating:
Summary: Breathtaking.
Review: I can't remember the first time I cried, laughed out loud, or shook my head in amazement at this astonishing, ravishing, heart-melting, mind-bending book. I do remember reading the last paragraph at 5 am, having stayed up reading, unable to put the book down, and going into work with a tear-stained face still living in the world that Michael Chabon created. Is there anything he can't imagine or give voice to?
Rating:
Summary: Leaping tall buildings with a single bound
Review: And, Man, what a bound. I'm still stunned. I would not have believed that a fictionalized account of the early comic book industry could be at once fascinating, jarring, personal, mythic, hilarious, moving. Michael Chabon's Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay made me laugh out loud, pester my wife sharing bits of brilliance that played well even out of context, cry, lose sleep staying up to read it, slow down to savor the best language, and feel a deep sense of loss when I finished it. I can't remember the last time a novel reached in and tinkered with my viscera the way this one did. I keep telling myself that Sammy, Joe, Rosa, and Tommy are fictional constructs, but I just don't believe it. Surely I've known them all for years. Even if he never again achieves the breadth and depth of Kavalier & Clay, for this novel alone, I will never forget Michael Chabon.
Rating:
Summary: fantastic, genre-bending epic
Review: Michael Chabon blurs the lines between romance and realism in "The Amazing Adventures of Kavlier & Clay." Romantic fiction, we are told, places action above character. The plot of "Kavlier & Clay" is intricate and grandiose, the pacing swift like that of the pulps several of Chabon's characters pen. But amidst the action and excitement is a cast of finely drawn, complicated characters, who exist harmoniously alongside the sweeping, epic, romantic plot, neither dominating nor letting themselves become obscured by it. Chabon is a writer's writer. He has a genuine love and understanding of language, and uses it like a seamstress uses a thread and needle. His prose is grand and complicated; there isn't a single sentence in this book without a purpose, they hold the book together at the seams instead of just filling space. He also manages to present his material (comic books, WWII, performance magic, the publishing industry) in a way that makes it easy to comprehend for those with no previous knowledge of it, and his treatment of comic books could make even the most virulent non-fan understand the beauty & importance of them. Chabon has always possessed a knack for creating distinct & memorable characters, and he takes that talent to new heights in "The Amazing Adventures of Kavlier & Clay." His two leading men, troubled immigrant Josef and confused, sensitive Sammy, are comprehensively written and the driving force behind the book's drama. They are, ultimately, what makes the book so incredible. With lesser characters, "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay" could have easily been a self-conscious stab at "The Great American Novel." Chabon's attention to populating his epic with fully-realized characters that ring true is what actually makes it a Great American Novel. "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay" is not an easy read by any means, but it is an intensely satisfying one. Beyond that, it is an important book. In a market that is so saturated with fluff and where the most innovative, fresh books are memoirs, "Kavlier & Clay" reminds us that fiction can still be incredibly powerful, that there are still great stories to be told.
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