The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
Michael Chabon
656 pages
published in 2000.

The story of two Jewish cousins in the New York of the late thirties, forties and early fifties.

Josef Kavalier is a Czech Jew from Prague, whose family had bought him a ticket to the US after the German army had invaded. Via a slight detour he ends up in New York with his cousin Sammy Clay, a Brooklyn Jew who lived with his mother and worked for Empire Novelty Company, Inc.

Josef ("Joe") has studied to be a escape artist, Sammy's runaway father was a circus strongman. Together they create The Escapist, yet another superhero inspired by the succes of Superman. Unlike most of them though The Escapist is both original and succesful.

This is mostly a psychological novel about two Jewish cousins, but the period detail and the way the world of early US comics is portrayed are amazing. Chabon has clearly done his homework and loves to show it off. Recommended.