Shannon's Review - The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon

Title: The Yiddish Policemen’s Union
Series: No
Author: Michael Chabon
Genre: Fiction, Mystery
Publisher: HarperCollins
Received: Bought through Life’s Library Book Club
Release Date: May 2007
Pages: 414
Rating:






Author Michael Chabon’s Official Websites


Website:
https://www.harpercollins.com/authors/michaelchabon/

Blog:
None found

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/michaelchabonauthor/

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/michaelchabon

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/michael.chabon/



Shannon’s Thoughts:


Meyer Landsman is a police detective. He and his partner are investigating a murder in the Jewish community. The farther they dig the more strange this murder seems. Some believed the man who was murdered was the savior. As Landsman struggles with finding leads he makes connections with what went wrong with his own marriage and how he's dealt with negative events that have happened in his life.

This was a book recommended in the Life’s Library group. I probably would not have read it otherwise. I really did not know what to expect when I started it. I had heard of author Michael Chabon but have never read anything by him. I wish I could say that I want to read more by him, but alas.., No. The fact that I finished this is a great feat because I am still not sure I understand what was completely going on. Here is what I gather… The area it takes place in Alaska is mostly Jewish neighborhood who like to play chess. There is a murder and the detective isn’t a great detective nor a sober one. They spend most of the book trying to find out why the victim was murdered which apparently doesn’t matter because the character never finds out and neither does the reader.

This is the first book that I wished I had read as an ebook because of all the Yiddish words. I had no idea what characters were talking about some times. I sorta flipped to the back looking for a glossary and I did not see one my first look( which is my bad because there was one). I had just missed the glossary my first flip through but on a second look when I more than halfway through there it was. Everything in this book never has a payoff. The people annoyed me, and the fact that Meyer’s sister was suddenly thrown into the mess at the end.

The book was just very frustrating for me. The not understanding of the words and the fact that by the time I was connected with the characters we get a cliffhanger and instead of thinking, “I need the sequel” as I would with a book I liked. I instead thought, “f this author and characters” and threw the book across the room.