When author Michael Chabon wanted to find a way to write about an era that he treasured, he turned to comic books. All his life, he has been drawn to the fashion, music, writing, politics, and social history of the late 1930s and '40s known to comic book fans as "The Golden Age" when Superman, Batman, and others became American icons.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay is Chabon's ode to this often-disparaged artform. His heroes are two cousins, an American hoping to make it big in comics and a Czech immigrant fleeing the Nazis. Together they invent "The Escapist," a masked hero battling evil across the world. The horrors of Nazi Germany affect them directly, but also fuel their creative fires as they use "The Escapist" to convince the public that the United States needs to join World War II.

About the author
Michael Chabon was raised in Maryland. He began writing short stories at age 12. After attending the University of Pittsburgh, he studied at the University of California-Irvine writer's program. The novel he wrote as a thesis, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, ended up being published to critical acclaim and healthy sales.

He has since written two collections of short stories and two novels, including his most recent book The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.

He hasn't read comic books, except for research, since his late teens, but expects them to enter his life again full-force when his toddler son discovers caped heroes. He lives in Berkeley, California, with his wife, Ayelet Waldman, also a novelist, and their children.

Books by Michael Chabon
• The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (Random House, 2000)
• Wonder Boys (Picador, 1996)
• The Mysteries of Pittsburgh (HarperCollins, 1989)