|
|
Suzanne
Rating:
Review
This book's got soul. Lethem has created a modern-day, crackerjack twist on hard-boiled detective stories, told from the strange perspective of one Lionel Essrog. Lionel's life is defined by Tourette's Syndrome. His upbringing as an orphan at St. Vincent's Home for Boys in a seedy Brooklyn neighborhood fills in the rest of the picture. Thanks to the compulsive obscenities, counting, barking, and assorted other "tics" erupting from his mouth, Lionel couldn't be more alone in the world. His adolescent self is thrilled when petty mobster Frank Minna takes him under his wing, along with three other boys from the home, to do illegal jobs and detective work. The "Minna Men" become Lionel's new family of sorts as the years go by. But when Frank gets stabbed to death everything starts to unravel, and Lionel breaks out of his limited shell of a life to discover previously unimagined dimensions of Frank's life and the world in general. Lionel's secret is that he's smarter than people think, and in the midst of his thuggish world, he's an endearing guy. He can also be pretty funny. I could almost hear the heavy Brooklyn accents of all the small-time criminals in this story. Great title, too.
Best Line:
"That's how I sleep at night, you have to know. You with no gun." (pg. 8)
Kim
Rating:
Review
This story ebbs and flows with main character Lionel Essrog, ordinary New Yorker if not for his Tourette's Syndrome. Lionel's life revolves around Frank Minna and his car service/detective agency, and his co-workers, who were orphans and high school dropouts, like himself. When Frank is murdered, Lionel is determined to find his killer, which is no easy task. Instead of grieving, Frank's widow disappears before the funeral, and further complicating Lionel's quest for justice are small-time mobsters who come out of the woodwork, along with a long-long family member. I liked this book, mostly because you can't go wrong having a main character with Tourette's, but the story seemed to slow down about half way into it. I'm not sure why, since the first half was very interesting, and funny as all get out. I still recommend reading it though, since the writing is so smart and witty.
Best Line:
"Tourette's is just one big lifetime of tag, really."
|
|
