At the risk of this becoming the NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW...

One of the benefits (or casualties) of the classical coup d'etat of romanticism which took place in my mind this year was the acquisition of a new eye for reading. Before this year, I don't ever remember dissecting the books I read in my free time, plunging them for themes or meaning or technique. Being a romantic, I was interested only in the feeling I derived from a book, that thin halo of meaning that glowed a few centimeters off the page.

Now, I think I'm more in tune to the classical, intellectual appeal of literature. I could always pick out symbols and clever parallelisms in English class, but I never really enjoyed it. I enjoy it now.

This was made apparent to me because of our latest Wade novel, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. I had read this book last spring, when I was still skimming only the surface of my books like a California gold-panner afraid to get his wrists wet (bam!), and I really really liked it. But now, because I'm reading it again, I've picked up on things my romantic mind never would have a year ago.

And the second time around, this book is nothing short of amazing.

I'm prone to hyperbole when I latch on to a new book/movie/song I like, but WOW. This book just knocked me flat in the 5 days it took me to read all 636 pages. The characters, the story, the language, the incredibly ambitious history and research all pulled a helluva sucker-punch. I never remembered it being this good. I had noticed the themes of escaping and golem-making (which Chabon pretty much throws in the reader's face in the form of a big, obvious, delicious pie) the first time around, but they never seemed to gel and permeate the whole story like they did the second time around. The past 2 days, my head has just been sparking with thoughts about the book that I never had last spring.

God, I just love that feeling of finally finding a really good book. I hope you other Wade scholars are enjoying it... assuming you've even started. I know we all have biases toward Mr. Wade's reading selections, but trust me, you will enjoy this on a level above anything we have read this year if you give it a chance. And Sarah, I'm sorry, this book trounces Haroun. A thousandfold. I mean, if we held a battle royale for our books, Chabon would beat Salman Rushdie into a bloody pulp better than the Iranian PM could EVER DO. Ya' hear? UH! Pulitzer Power!