Light reading from a literary heavyweight

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	• Motherless Brooklyn Jonathan Lethem Faber and Faber, 2004 - 311 pages average customer review:based on 201 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Lethem's best so far . . .

This novel is something of a departure for Lethem, all of whose previous work has been experimental and occasionally bizarre in structure, theme, and characterization. It's nearly a traditional straight narrative -- and a good one, too. Four somewhat inept orphans from St. Vincent's Home for Boys in Brooklyn -- the "Motherless Brooklyn" of the title -- are taken under the wing of Frank Minna, local fixer and small-time hood, who becomes the center of their universe. And fifteen years later, the "Minna Men" are still in thrall, carrying out shady errands under cover of being operatives of a detective agency. One of the four is Lionel Esrog, the narrator, who suffers from Tourette's Syndrome. His uncontrollable outbursts and tics are tolerated by his peers and by his acquaintances in the neighborhood from long habit, but everyone seems to equate his behaviors with a lack of intelligence. Lionel, mostly self-educated and far from stupid, is in fact a very perceptive and self-aware person. Then Frank is murdered almost under Lionel's nose and he must try to find the killer and exact vengeance while struggling to control his Tourette's. His quest through the web of unexpected relationships and parts of Brooklyn he never knew make for a riveting story. But the real star here is Lionel's own interior self, his painfully developed coping skills, his constant self-observation. Lethem is always masterful in his use of the English language but he excels in letting Lionel's syndrome reveal his thoughts. This is a highly original author's most mature work to date.

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Great subway read for Brooklynites

Narrator Lionel Essrog's observations are so sensitively drawn, that I became sincerely attached to him AND to the neighborhoods that he knows as well as his manic mind. "Motherless Brooklyn" is the name that Frank Minna, the godfather character, gives to his group of scrawny "Minna Men" when he first hires them out of an orphanage to work as his moving team/chauffeurs/go-to boys. Lethem's portrayal of the relationship between Minna and Lionel -- replete with classic dialogue, and a postmortem poignance -- is empty of any condescension, as is the narrative itself from Lionel's perspective. Because of this leveling of all distracting judgment (the same tough-loving straightforwardness that Lionel appreciates in Frank Minna) I think this book teaches the basic, golden-rule lesson that everyone deserves a little respect and a chance in life.

Lionel's independence is something he's had to maintain all along as an orphan and as a freak in others' eyes, and it's rewarding to see him beating out the other characters in smarts as he becomes a real detective. He plays his disorder to his advantage because everyone underestimates him or regards him as a nuisance. Lethem's achievement is not the detective plotline, but his portrayal of Lionel from Lionel's own point of view -- he never wallows in self-pity, and the reader sees him as a savvy upstart with an independent, secret angle on everything. I especially liked the abbreviated relationship with the girl at the Zendo.

This is all not to mention the whirlwind wordplay that peppers the whole book, and makes Tourette's syndrome seem like a symptom of genius that more people should manifest in this life we take too seriously.

As someone new to Brooklyn, I loved the geography (street names, intersections) that gave a real flavor to every scene.

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An inventive and enjoyable read.

There was little I didn't like about this book. It kept me guessing, it was unique, funny, sad and disturbing all at the same time and the pages turned quickly, plus it had one of the funniest scenes I've ever encountered in a book when, while shopping, the main character who has Tourette's Syndrome comes upon a magazine with Prince on the cover and he tries to pronounce the symbol out loud.

Light reading from a literary heavyweight

As one strolls through the prose of this fine novel, they are enraptured in an accessible and engaging story. This novel holds the interest of even A.D.D.-ish readers, but still manages to entertain and impress the snooty literati. Lethem's style is so very different from anyone else's writing these days, and his content is so contemporary and intimate that once started, this novel is hard to put down. Part gumshoe, part comedy, part commentary, Motherless Brooklyn represents the crossover of one of America's great writers from 'scifi' to 'this new thing', and who knows where he will next take his growing following.

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Best audiobook ever!

First off, I've read the novel as well, and it's easily Lethem's best. I worked for five years for a guy with Tourette's, and Lethem did is homework. The thing you don't get on the printed page is the abruptness, the change of tempo, that a verbal tick, especially an unsuccesful suppression of one, can come out with such lightning speed in the midst of an otherwise normal conversation.

Which is where Frank Muller comes in. I listen to audiobooks at work, usually 40 or 50 hours a week. I rarely revisit one, but in the case of Motherless Brooklyn, I can't stop going back to the library and getting it for another listen.

There are some other good audiobooks out there, to be sure, and some other gifted narrators, but this combination of book and narrator is the ultimate.

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, page 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17

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