"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
This brilliant sentence and a lot of other really excellent ones compose Lethem's engaging fifth novel, Motherless Brooklyn. Lionel Essrog, a detective suffering from Tourette's syndrome, spins the narrative as he tracks down the killer of his boss, Frank Minna. Minna enlisted Lionel and his friends when they were teenagers living at Saint Vincent's Home for Boys, ostensibly to perform odd jobs (we're talking very odd) and over the years trained them to become a team of investigators. The Minna men face their most daunting case when they find their mentor in a Dumpster bleeding from stab wounds delivered by an assailant whose identity he refuses to reveal--even while he's dying on the way to the hospital.
Detectives? Brooklyn? Is this the same Lethem who danced the postapocalypso in Amnesia Moon? Incredibly, yes, and rarely has such a departure been pulled off with this much aplomb. As in the "toothbrush" passage above, Lethem sets himself up with the imposing task of making tired conventions new. Brooklyn accents? Fuggetaboutit. Lethem's dialogue is as light on its feet as a prize fighter. Lionel's Tourette's could have been an easy joke, but Lethem probes so convincingly into the disorder that you feel simultaneously rattled, sympathetic, and irritated by the guy. Sure, the story is a mystery, but Motherless Brooklyn could be about flower arranging, for all we care. What counts is Lionel's tic-ridden take on a world full of surprises, propelling this fiction forward at edgy, breakneck speed. --Ryan Boudinot
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Shipping:
US$ 3.25
Within U.S.A.
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. Buy for Great customer experience. Seller Inventory # GoldenDragon0385491832
Book Description Condition: New. Buy with confidence! Book is in new, never-used condition 0.9. Seller Inventory # bk0385491832xvz189zvxnew
Book Description hardcover. Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 230402262
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New Copy. Customer Service Guaranteed. Seller Inventory # think0385491832
Book Description Condition: new. Seller Inventory # FrontCover0385491832
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Brand New. 320 pages. 9.75x6.25x1.25 inches. In Stock. Seller Inventory # 0385491832
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New. Seller Inventory # Wizard0385491832
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: New. Seller Inventory # Abebooks94310
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. Brand New Copy. Seller Inventory # BBB_new0385491832
Book Description Condition: New. New. In shrink wrap. Looks like an interesting title! 0.9. Seller Inventory # Q-0385491832