They were children... We were wolves

Did I forget to mention I procrastinate like there's no tomorrow? Well, better late than never! I'll kick off this review with a look into The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon.
As a casual (read: avid) reader, I tend to decide whether or not I like a book after the first few pages. Actually, that's a lie. I'll trudge through a book, hopeful that it'll get better, I swear! That usually leads to painful hours of reading with little chance for redemption on the book's part. However, that didn't happen with Kavalier & Clay. I really found this book to be enjoyable. It goes like this: Joe Kavalier is a young Jewish immigrant, a talented artist and an illusionist straight from Prague. His cousin, Sammy Clay, works a dead end job in New York, hoping to one day work in comics. The setting is New York (along with various other locations around the globe) at the eve of World War II. Together, they create a crimefighter with the ability to escape anything, aptly named The Escapist. Through him, they are able to face the obstacles and troubles that limit their own lives and have him accomplish what they cannot. In essence, The Escapist is who they wish to be.
As I said, this was a great read. I found myself never stopping for hours at a time, not realizing the sun had gone down long ago. The attention to detail in Chabon's work is staggering, from his knowledge of comic book history to the social and political changes happening to American society in this time period. No doubt, Chabon definitely did his homework when working on this novel. However, as easily as I found myself turning page after page with anticipation, I also found myself in certain scenes unable to go on due to the monotony of the plot at that point in the story, a downside to Chabon's attention to detail. Though it is impressive, there were parts of the story that I felt would have not lessened the impact of the plot had they been excluded. But hey, that's just one guy's opinion. Despite this downside, I really did enjoy the novel, and I highly recommend it to those that have the patience to get through the 500+ page story. Give it a try!

In addition, I have an announcement for all those reading this. Next month is November, and you know what that means! NaNoWriMo is coming! For those of you that don't know, NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month, which occurs every November. It's a challenge you make to yourself, a 31-day writing filled frenzy, with a goal of 50,000 words by the close of the month. And I try to do it every year! I've been participating every year for the past 3 years, though I have never reached the goal. But I hope to do it this year! Wish me luck! And if you decide to do it too, excellent! I'll give updates as I go along, hopefully!