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Copy/paste the text below into your blog. <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16703.The_Yiddish_Policemen_s_Union?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Yiddish Policemen's Union" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1178032098m/16703.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16703.The_Yiddish_Policemen_s_Union?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">The Yiddish Policemen's Union</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2715.Michael_Chabon">Michael Chabon</a><br/><br/> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1295527?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a> rating: 5 of 5 stars<br/>On a first read: Chabon's best to date. The West Coast noir gestures aren't quite a red herring, but they are a frame, tightly encompassing the book without ultimately breaking the image within. The Ashkenaz-in-Alaska worldbuilding is wholly original, perfectly realized, and profoundly suited to the frame. Chabon understands American language from deep inside itself, fitting Yiddish to tough-guy self-expression as perfectly as <a href="/search/search?q=+Tony+Kushner&t=author"> Tony Kushner</a> merged Prior's and Louis' modes in <i>Angels in America</i>. The characters are desperate and stubborn to the last, especially plausible in their heartbreak. (If you've tasted heartbreak recently, I don't recommend this one-- it's a banquet of the stuff, wrenching in its detail, way too familiar.) There are fantastic and paranoid elements in the story, but I disagree with Kakutani here: Each keeps to its proper place. <br/> <br/>I'll reread this one and <a href="/search/search?q=+The+Adventures+of+Kavalier+and+Clay&t=title"> The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay</a> in a year or two and see how my initial judgment holds up. It may well need revision. But on a first read, this one's the real deal. <br/><br/><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/89075?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>