The Yiddish Policeman's Union: Mixed Feelings

I wrapped up Michael Chabon's latest over the weekend, and I have to confess: It didn't live up to my very high expectations. I've loved so many of his previous outings that I really expected to be taken with The Yiddish Policeman's Union, too. Even after I started it and wasn't immediately pulled in, I took solace in the fact that two friends who had read it before me told me that it was a slow start for them, too, and that by the end they couldn't put it down.

Technically, the book is successful. The central mystery is both personal to the protagonist—giving it an emotional core—and global enough to capitalize on the author's alternate history concept. The writing style took me a while to adjust to; this is my first foray into hardboiled fiction, and I can't say that I loved it. That said, from what I do understand about the genre, it seems that Chabon has successfully adopted the tone, traits, and characteristics of the style. I admire his determination to break down the artificial segregation of genre fiction and literary fiction, but any author who dabbles in such a variety of writing styles will really please each of his readers only some of the time.

With some writers, you go in knowing exactly what you're going to get (Amy Tan, anyone?), and it takes courage to try something different with each book. I didn't love The Yiddish Policeman's Union, but I appreciated it. Chabon is an extremely talented writer, and I'm excited to see what he does next. My anticipation won't be for the guaranteed pleasure that comes from always ordering the vodka sauce at Nino's and knowing that it will fully satisfy; instead, it will be the anticipation of trying something new and hoping to discover a new and exhilarating flavor all together.


Side note: I do continue to be intrigued by the alternate history genre. I can imagine The Yiddish Policeman's Union and The Plot Against America as the foundation to a very interesting college course…