Slacks for Ella Funt

I had been looking forward to this book for years. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is one of my favorite books, and I couldn’t wait to see what Chabon would do next. It would have been hard, though, for this new book to not be somewhat of a dissappointment in comparison with Kavalier & Clay. It’s a great book, and he’s a talented writer, but I didn’t fall in love with his world or his story.
Though there are definitely tragedies in Kavalier & Clay, what I think about when I remember it is a feeling of brash, youthful optimism. And for years, I’ve been thinking about that book of an example of a book where the author loved his characters so much that you couldn’t help but love them too.
The Yiddish Policeman’s Union is a different kind of story—there’s no optimism. The characters are just waiting for their world to end, and all hope is pretty much behind them. The plot line is essentially a noir mystery, which wouldn’t have been out of place in an Ian Rankin book. The alcoholic older detective, shunned by the system, goes renegade to solves a crime that obsesses him. Chabon’s Meyer Landsman didn’t seem that different from Rankin’s John Rebus. Not to say that I’m not a fan of Ian Rankin’s books, but I expect a little more from Michael Chabon.
Some of the supporting characters have the same feeling of being loved by the author, particularly Landsman’s ex-wife Bina and his partner Berko. And the minor characters are great, particularly the midget wilderness policeman.
But in the end, I’m a sucker for plot, and this one didn’t have the same hold on me that Kavalier & Clay did. But my expectations were probably higher than any book would be likely to fulfill.