The Yiddish Policeman’s Union
By Michael Chabon
414 pages (Fiction)
What if the state of Israel was dissolved right after being formed? What if instead of an exodus to Israel in WWII all of the Jewish folk in war torn Europe moved to Alaska instead. From our perspective that seems pretty outrageous, but apparently Eisenhower had it as a plan that never saw the light of day. This book explores the land of the Sitka Jews in Alaska, if the past had followed this path. This background provides the setting for a murder mystery.
The book opens with Meyer Landsman, an alcoholic detective, investigating a murder that happens in his own apartment building. He gets his partner involved and soon they are trampling across the Jewish lands sticking their nose where it doesn’t belong. Landsman’s ex-wife is soon put in charge of his department and tells them that the murder is no longer a concern.
Sitka is a “reservation for Jews” that in a few short months will revert back to Alaska ownership. There is no place for anyone to go. Most know they won’t be able to stay where they are. Everything is up in there air. This includes the current police department. Their job is to solve all the cases they can and sweep the rest under the rug before “reversion”. Landsman blows this off as easily as he polishes of a bottle of liqueur and quickly finds deep into all the local troubles. The local version of the Mafia and others with political clout all seems to be involved and Meyer’s investigation draws him further into trouble.
Chabon has been a great interest to me of late. I find his writing style to be impressive, thought provoking and easily digested. My first book review was his Pulitzer winning The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. While his writing was pleasing I was not as engaged by this book. Making a comparison to his earlier work I found it wasn’t as all encompassing. Towards the end of the book I just wanted to be finished. The writing was good, but I wasn’t as drawn to the story.
Emotional: 4 – This is where the book does shine. The characters are deep and live by real life standards. The plight of the Jews in this fictional setting is engaging.
Intellectual: 2 – The “Jewsishness” of the book finds a place of interest intellectually, but as I said I was losing interest by the end of the book. Chabon’s writing is worthwhile.
Long Term: 2 – The main draw is Chabon’s writing. That will keep this book on people’s shelves, but it will be overshadowed by his better work.
Overall and 8, A decent piece of Chabon’s work. If you are a fan it is certainly worth reading. If not I would suggest The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.
