Kavalier and Clay: Pulitzer Prize winning fiction book abt a comic book empire

Set in New York during the times of world war II, this story follows immigrant comic-book artist Joe Kavalier and his savvy business partner and best friend Sam Clay as they take the world by storm through their best-selling comic books. While they are, admittedly, limited (they don't have many other skills, friends, or opportunities) we fall in love with this duo. This is, I think, partly because their journey is so entertaining, and partly because we measure people not by talent, but by their growth rate (c.f David Brooks Life Report). The book raises the conflicts between a) making art vs selling it and b) "high" art vs "low" art. They make their money selling "trash", as their bosses call it, but Joe becomes frustrated and wants to make a comic he considers to be "high" art. At one point, his partner Sam explicitly states that comic books are a lower form of art, but changes his mind when he sees the brilliance Joe creates. As someone who enjoys both Great Books ("high art") and contemporary rap music ("low art"), and sees genius in both, this was confirming, (or at the very least, fodder for rationalization).