The Yiddish Policemen's Union

A Novel

By: Michael Chabon

Narrated by: Peter Riegert

he New York Times bestseller, now available in paperback—“an excellent, hyperliterate, genre-pantsing detective novel that deserves every inch of its…blockbuster superfame” (New York).

For sixty years Jewish refugees and their descendants have prospered in the Federal District of Sitka, a ""temporary"" safe haven created in the wake of the Holocaust and the shocking 1948 collapse of the fledgling state of Israel. The Jews of the Sitka District have created their own little world in the Alaskan panhandle, a vibrant and complex frontier city that moves to the music of Yiddish. But now the District is set to revert to Alaskan control, and their dream is coming to an end.

Homicide detective Meyer Landsman of the District Police has enough problems without worrying about the upcoming Reversion. His life is a shambles, his marriage a wreck, his career a disaster. And in the cheap hotel where Landsman has washed up, someone has just committed a murder—right under his nose. When he begins to investigate the killing of his neighbor, a former chess prodigy, word comes down from on high that the case is to be dropped immediately, and Landsman finds himself contending with all the powerful forces of faith, obsession, evil, and salvation that are his heritage.

At once a gripping whodunit, a love story, and an exploration of the mysteries of exile and redemption, The Yiddish Policemen's Union is a novel only Michael Chabon could have written.

I'd prefer reading this

I love listening to books, but I do other things while I listen. This book has such rich prose and so much information in each sentence that I found I was missing too much by listening. It helped to find a synopsis, but even then it was challenging to follow. I'm a visual learner, so think I would have done fine if I'd actually read it instead of listening. I liked it, and do plan to read it at some point. The narrator definitely evokes a classic detective story, almost to the point of parody. It reminded me a little of Garrison Keillor's Guy Noir.

Great story, great narrator

My only complaints are a few spots where the recording skips or cuts out for a second or two and the odd placement of the short music bit. Otherwise, I loved it.

Great story, love the performance

Highly recommended, although there are A few recording errors that have yet to be fixed.

Interesting Concept

The concept of a post-1948 Jewish Pale in Alaska is an interesting alternative history concept. The narrator was great. His voice was just right for a police homicide detective and he pronounced most of the Hebrew and Yiddish words correctly. That being said however, it was very hard for me to finish. All of the characters seemed maladjusted or criminal. Everyone. Even, or especially, the religious people. Maybe in a policeman's world everyone is either maladjusted or criminal.

Great start weird middle impossible end.

I used to live in Sitka where my husband worked as an air traffic controller, so I enjoyed the chance to reminisce about the area. Made me almost miss the rain. The writing was great if you like that Detective Noir style (I do). But it just got too weird for me to follow about 2/3 of the way through.