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A review by gatofish
The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon
4.0
This book was unlike anything I expected. I'd heard it was good. It was. Very. A murder mystery in an alternative universe where the Jews have been given the edge of the Alaskan peninsula when they were kicked out of Israel in 1948. But that land is soon to revert back to the US, with the residential status of the Jewish population unknown.
I had a hard time with the Yiddish terms, however. I wish I'd known there was a glossary in the back when I started!
The writing is SPECTACULAR. Chabon uses metaphors and similes that on the surface sound so bizarre, but as you think about them, it dawns on you that whatever it is, is EXACTLY how he describes. Here's an example: "The belly pregnant with elephant triplets, the breasts full and pendulous, each tipped with a pink lentil of a nipple." This is the description of a male Jewish mafia head honcho!
I only wish Chabon carried the story into the actual change-over of Alaska reverting back to the US (and no longer a Jewish safe haven). Then again, leaving it up to my imagination is pretty interesting, too. I heard a rumor there will be a sequel.
I plan on reading this again so I can fully enjoy the story without stumbling over the Yiddish.
I had a hard time with the Yiddish terms, however. I wish I'd known there was a glossary in the back when I started!
The writing is SPECTACULAR. Chabon uses metaphors and similes that on the surface sound so bizarre, but as you think about them, it dawns on you that whatever it is, is EXACTLY how he describes. Here's an example: "The belly pregnant with elephant triplets, the breasts full and pendulous, each tipped with a pink lentil of a nipple." This is the description of a male Jewish mafia head honcho!
I only wish Chabon carried the story into the actual change-over of Alaska reverting back to the US (and no longer a Jewish safe haven). Then again, leaving it up to my imagination is pretty interesting, too. I heard a rumor there will be a sequel.
I plan on reading this again so I can fully enjoy the story without stumbling over the Yiddish.