Jonathan Lethem: The Fortress Of Solitude

Reviewed by STEPHEN JEWELL

New York author Jonathan Lethem's seventh novel has been promoted internationally as this year's equivalent of such literary best-sellers as Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections or Michael Chabon's Pulitzer Prize-winning The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.

The comparison to The Corrections may be superfluous, but The Fortress of Solitude does explore similar territory to Chabon's magnificent opus as both novels are rooted in the four-colour world of American comic books, although Kavalier & Clay was a thinly veiled fictional re-creation of the lives and comic careers of Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

Dylan Edbus is a middle-class white kid growing up in the 1970s in Brooklyn's mainly black and Puerto Rican neighbourhood, Gowanus. He is introduced to comics and music — soul, disco, hip-hop, punk — as well as graffiti and drugs by his equally oddball black neighbour, Mingus Rude.

The first half of Fortress covers Dylan's school days, moving from the early 70s to the early 80s when he leaves Brooklyn to attend college. It's a dense, heavily detailed book and the early chapters drag slightly, although the pace quickens once Mingus enters the frame.

It is, as they say, all in the detail. If, like I am, you're a fan of the comics and records Lethem writes about, Fortress will make for an engrossing read.

Dylan and Mingus buying multiple copies of obscure, long-failed comics such as Omega The Unknown and Howard The Duck in the forlorn hope that they will eventually rise in value will strike a chord with any comic collector. Meanwhile, Lethem's vivid depiction of Dylan hearing the Sugarhill Gang's seminal single Rapper's Delight for the first time, or attending neighbourhood block parties, will appeal to anyone interested in the early days of hip-hop.

Superhero conventions are also at the heart of Fortress' most controversial aspect which, in the tradition of costumed crusaders such as Green Lantern, involves an old tramp, Aaron X Doily, bequeathing Dylan and Mingus a magic ring which apparently gives them the ability to fly. Dylan and Mingus use their newfound abilities to fight crime as the awkwardly named superhero, Aeroman. However, the reader is never sure whether to take Aeroman's super-powered exploits at face value or whether it is all simply the creation of their fevered teenage imaginations.

Lethem changes perspective halfway through Fortress, moving from third- to first-person narration and jumping forward to the present day. Like the author, California-based Dylan has long since outgrown comics and is now a music journalist, writing liner notes for box sets of old soul singers. Dylan has fallen out with his black girlfriend and when he sets about reconciling himself with his past, he finds Doily's ring among his possessions.

Dylan foolishly puts Doily's ring on again at Fortress' climax and the reader's suspension of disbelief is stretched a little thin as he attempts to play the hero after visiting Mingus in prison. But Lethem aptly ends as he begins, with music playing in the background of his story.

Like a memorable tune, The Fortress of Solitude will linger in the mind for a long time.

Faber & Faber, $37

* Stephen Jewell is an Auckland journalist.