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Whistle Stopper - The Yiddish Policemen's Union: A Novel (P.S.)
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List Price: $15.95
Our Price: $8.85
Your Save: $ 7.10 ( 45% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
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Average Customer Rating:   
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780007149834
ISBN: 0007149832
Label: Harper Perennial
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 464
Publication Date: 2008-05-01
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Release Date: 2008-04-29
Studio: Harper Perennial
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Great idea, but gets bogged down by its complexity
Comment:
Hard-boiled homicide detective Landsman, has to deal with a murder in his flophouse apartment building. Landsman, a alcoholic mess after a personal tragedy, is one of those great detective inventions; the tough smart cop, who is just a bit overwhelmed by the circumstances he finds himself in, but keeps fighting for the truth regardless of his personal well-being. Assisted by a giant Native Alaskan Jew, Berko, who is as much brother as he is partner, and his ex-wife, now boss, Landsman delves into a case that deal with organized crime, Orthodox beliefs, and a murder victim who is a messianic figure in the community and maybe more than that. All this as the time limit for the Jewish settlement in Alaska, where in this alternate Earth the Jews have now settled instead of Israel, is reaching an end, threatening to leave the Jewish people homeless again. I wish I could say Chabon pulls it off without a hitch. There is so much right here, the dialogue, the descriptions and even the fantastic setting all add up to a novel well worth your time, but it gets bogged down in needless complexity, a labyrinth of twists and turns that end up confusing the narrative and creates a novel that reaches too far for its humble origins. Maybe Chabon was using Hammet's DAIN CURSE as a model, another book where the exciting journey reaches a conclusion that leaves the reader wondering exactly what the point was. Despite this I liked the book, but finished thinking it should have stayed true to its pulp roots instead of reaching for an ambitious finish that is not quite achieved satisfactorily.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Nu
Comment: Chabon's prose is the star in this book. I just love the way he turns a sentence. That said, the plot was a bit flaky. It just didn't seem to stand up to Mr. Chabon's beautiful writing-kind of like putting a mink coat on a hog.......
Customer Rating:
Summary: Must Read
Comment: "The Yiddish Policeman's Union" raises the literary bar, vaulting into the top tier of fiction and establishing a new standard for the detective/murder/noir genre. Literary, fun, tragicomic, profound and light all at the same time; a masterful and daring act of luminosity. Chabon shines.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Chabon is back! Oy vey!
Comment: It's taken a long time for Michael Chabon to write a real follow-up to his award-winning novel, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. During this seven year or so period, Chabon wasn't exactly idle: among other writing, he did produce an interesting novella (The Final Solution) and a forgettable young adults novel, Summerland. None of this, however, really like another Kavalier & Clay type of book. The Yiddish Policemen's Union is that long-awaited novel.
Although it doesn't really fit into one single genre, The Yiddish Policemen's Union is a mix of classic hardboiled mystery and science fiction (although technically, I suppose it fits better into that ambiguous genre of speculative fiction). Chabon has constructed an alternate reality where the state of Israel was never established; instead, Jews were given an area in Alaska to act as a temporary homeland and refuge from the horrors of WWII Europe. The emphasis here should be on "temporary"; sixty years after its establishment, the Federal District of Sitka is about to revert to the control of Alaska. Some Jews will be allowed to stay, but many will be kicked out.
With Reversion just a couple months away, homicide detective Meyer Landsman gets involved in a murder that most people don't want solved. Landsman is a typical hardboiled detective in the mold of Philip Marlowe or Lew Archer: he drinks a lot, has little in the way of money or friends and is constant defiance of authority. To make matters worse, his boss is also his ex-wife, Bina, who wants the Reversion to go smoothly (hopefully leading to both permanent residency and a job).
The murder victim is a heroin addict staying at the residence hotel that Landsman is living in. Since Bina doesn't want open cases, she has this one put in the cold case file, but Landsman feels obligated to solve a killing that took place more-or-less in his home. The victim, however, is not a mere junkie; instead he turns out to have been a potential Messiah, a role the victim did not exactly enjoy. There are, though, many who did want this Messiah, including the victim's father, a powerful rabbi.
To solve the crime will require all the standard things a hard-boiled detective needs to go through: gunfights, blows to the head, threatened job loss, powerful enemies, and so on. What's actually going on turns out to be more complicated than a simple killing. What makes this stand out from a routine mystery is, of course, the exotic setting, which is where Chabon really shines: he has created an alternate world which is well-constructed and essential to the story.
While really good, this is not a perfect novel; it's biggest flaw is that starts somewhat slow, but when it does pick up, it moves right along. Overall, this book is worth the wait: it's not Kavalier & Clay, but it's close enough.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Book by a Great Author
Comment: Michael Chabon has done it again. What a terrific story. Enjoyed it from the minute I started it.
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Editorial Reviews:
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For sixty years Jewish refugees and their descendants have prospered in the Federal District of Sitka, a "temporary" safe haven created in the wake of the Holocaust and the shocking 1948 collapse of the fledgling state of Israel. The Jews of the Sitka District have created their own little world in the Alaskan panhandle, a vibrant and complex frontier city that moves to the music of Yiddish. But now the District is set to revert to Alaskan control, and their dream is coming to an end. Homicide detective Meyer Landsman of the District Police has enough problems without worrying about the upcoming Reversion. His life is a shambles, his marriage a wreck, his career a disaster. And in the cheap hotel where Landsman has washed up, someone has just committed a murder—right under his nose. When he begins to investigate the killing of his neighbor, a former chess prodigy, word comes down from on high that the case is to be dropped immediately, and Landsman finds himself contending with all the powerful forces of faith, obsession, evil, and salvation that are his heritage. At once a gripping whodunit, a love story, and an exploration of the mysteries of exile and redemption, The Yiddish Policemen's Union is a novel only Michael Chabon could have written.
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