The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay - Michael Chabon (2000)
Michael Chabon's Pulitzer Prize winning The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is an epic in every sense of the word. It covers a lot of ground and takes place over quite a large chunk of time. I first heard about it my senior year in high school and have meant to read it ever since. I finally did it, and it did not disappoint, though it wasn't perfect by any means. The story is about a young boy who escapes the Europe of the 1930s that is on the brink of Nazi control to his cousin and his family in New York City. There, the two cousins decide to start a series of comic books to various degrees of success. That is just about all I knew about the novel going into it, and is a very narrow view of the plot. It opens up a substantial amount more (which in some areas, namely the backstory of the two cousins, gets a tad bit tedious). The best moments are when Chabon dabbles in the worlds of the various comic book super heroes and villains that the cousins create. There is also an incredible chapter where an event that occurs in the real world is described as if it was taking place inside a comic book. In spite of being long-winded at times, Chabon is an excellent author with an elite command of storytelling and the english language. I would recommend The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay to anyone and everyone.
Still Life With Woodpecker - Tom Robbins (1980)
Still Life With Woodpecker was my first foray into the works of Tom Robbins, and it was about as enjoyable as I had hoped and expected. It is a bizarre love story of a foreign but Americanized princess and an articulate, criminal bomber. It was a challenge to sort through the fantasy and reality interspersed throughout, but that made for a very fun read. Robbins' imagery was wonderful and his language reminded me of Kurt Vonnegut, even if Still Life With Woodpecker is way more philosophical and mystical than it is politcal.
Who's Afraid of a Large Black Man? - Charles Barkley (2005)
I was disappointed by this. Don't get me wrong, Charles Barkley is trying to do a good thing by discussing the issues of race and economics with relevant people (including the likes of Tiger Woods, Barack Obama, Samuel L. Jackson, Jesse Jackson, Morgan Freeman, Bill Clinton, etc.). But, to be completely honest, I really wanted Who's Afraid of a Large Black Man? to feature Barkley spouting off the harsh, insane nonsense he does when he covers basketball games for TNT. I was looking for humor and interesting dialogue, and what I got were annoying, repetitive catch phrases from Barkley and semi-interesting dialogue on a touching and important subject.
From Hell - Alan Moore (1991-96)
No surprise, Alan Moore has collected another great series of comics in From Hell. Here, he theorizes about the Jack the Ripper murders that occured in 1888, posing the idea that maybe the government along with the Freemasons were behind them. The artwork within the book is very appropriate as the story is fascinating, eerie, mysterious and absolutely disgusting. It is dense and hard was hard to get through, but well worth the trouble.
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