A terrific, sprawling novel about two friends who create a comic book superhero when Superman was still a young lad in tights. There's adventure, travel, harrowing escapes, a trip to the bottom of the earth, magic, marriage, and more - without the verbal pyrotechnics or self-indulgent analysis of so much literary fiction. It's about the story, and the storytelling and characters move it all forward in the satisfying way that a big, fat 19th century novel did. Imaginative and full of loving appreciation of the serial art that I loved as a kid.