Science Fiction · DarkIn an alternate Sitka, Alaska, a Yiddish-speaking city, a detective investigates a death as the city nears reversion
The Yiddish Policemen's Union
A noir detective story in a Yiddish-speaking Alaska
HarperCollins published the novel on 1 May 2007, a hardcover of 414 pages. It is science fiction, alternate history and detective fiction, in English with some Yiddish. Sitka, Alaska, has become a large Yiddish-speaking metropolis, set up as a temporary refuge for European Jews and due to be reverted to the State of Alaska soon. Meyer Landsman is an alcoholic homicide detective, and Berko Shemets is his partner and cousin. Chabon began work in February 2002, inspired by a 1997 Harper's essay.
More about this book
Who
Meyer Landsman, Berko Shemets, Bina Gelbfish and Hertz Shemets.
World
An alternate-history Sitka, Alaska, a Yiddish-speaking city.
What makes it different
It won the Hugo, the Nebula, the Sidewise Award and the Locus Award. It debuted at number 2 on The New York Times best-seller list.
Feel
Noir and witty.
Page count and cover shown for: Selected edition
Further reading
- The Yiddish Policemen's UnionWikipedia