The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon

The Yiddish Policemen’s Union (P.S.)

by Michael Chabon

Set in the Jewish homeland of … Alaska, this is a brilliantly original novel from Michael Chabon, author of THE ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY and WONDER BOYS.

What if, as Franklin Roosevelt once proposed, Alaska – and not Israel – had become the homeland for the Jews after the Second World War? In Michael Chabon’s Yiddish-speaking `Alyeska’, Orthodox gangs in side-curls and knee breeches roam the streets of Sitka, where Detective Meyer Landsman discovers the corpse of a heroin-addled chess prodigy in the flophouse Meyer calls home. Marionette strings stretch back to the hands of charismatic Rebbe Gold, leader of a sect that seems to have drawn its mission statement from the Cosa Nostra. Meyer is determined to unsnarl the meaning behind the murder. Even if that means surrendering his badge and his dignity to the chief of Sitka’s homicide unit – his fearsome ex-wife Bina.

A novel of colossal ambition and heart, THE YIDDISH POLICEMEN’S UNION interweaves a homage to the stylish menace of 1940s film noir with a bittersweet fable of identity, home and faith.

Reviewed by empressbrooke on

2 of 5 stars

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Somehow I've ended up reading two alternate history noir-ish murder mysteries that take place in fictional territories recently. Apparently the Hugo awards REALLY loves them, as they both were winners.

However, while I sucked down the other one ([b:The City and the City|4703581|The City and the City|China Miéville|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320475957s/4703581.jpg|4767909]) and decided it was my favorite book out of the last hundred I've read, The Yiddish Policeman's Union took me forever to read and I never felt more than lukewarm about it. All the elements were things I SHOULD have enjoyed, but something about the prose just slowed me down and made reading feel like a chore.

I can't even point to anything specific to explain why I had to slowly chip away at this book 10 pages here, 15 pages there, in order to get through it. Usually I'm able to say something a little more constructive about why something didn't work for me, but all I'm left with after finishing it is a bit of murky confusion.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 11 March, 2013: Finished reading
  • 11 March, 2013: Reviewed