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January 21, 2008

The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon

I have mixed feelings about Michael Chabon's The Yiddish Policemen's Union. Chabon is a good writer - he won a Pulitzer Prize for The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, and he also wrote Wonder Boys. And I liked the premise for this book - it involves an alternate version of history where Israel was defeated by its Arab neighbors in 1948 and, thus, refugee Jews are given long-term temporary haven in several communities in the United States. The progagonist of this novel, Meyer Landsman, is a policeman in such a Yiddish community in Sitka, Alaska. We meet his cousin, his ex-wife, and an interesting assortment of characters. The novel also involves a murder mystery, though, and that is the weaker part of the book. While I enjoy the characters and the situation of Jews whose lease on life in Alaska is almost up, the details surrounding the murder are murky and, frankly, not compelling. So while The Yiddish Policemen's Union provides interesting food for thought, it also requires some Alka Seltzer.

Posted by In Repair at January 21, 2008 04:29 PM

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