“Where do you learn about new books?My question isn't about this book's good and bad points so much as it is about the fact that it's a new release, and quite a few people on this site have it.I first read about this book in Entertainment Weekly. It got a positive review, and I've added it to my Amazon Wish List. I tend to get most of my book recommendations from EW, as well as occasionally from the Seattle Times. (And I've gotten some good recommendations from this site too!)Where do YOU learn about new books? Do you have a favorite reviewer who, as far as you're concerned, is always right on the money? I'd love to learn of a few new ways to learn about new books.”
“Best of his work's?I enjoy this book so far, do the rest of Chabon's books feature Jewish themes or is this the only one? Any other suggestions as to his best book?”
“my favorite two online resources for book reviews - and hence recommendations - are metacritic.com and reviewsofbooks.com. both sites compile widely ranging reviews from newspapers and other sources and make them available via one click. the other good source is through powells.com, which has a subscription service that sends a review-a-day to your inbox. my favorite reviewer - by a wide margin - is michiko kakutani of the daily ny times. a rave from her is more likely to get me to read a book than any other critic. ”
“This is a good excuse to go out and get an old copy of Leo Rosten's Joys of Yiddish. It's fabulous and a good reference for Yiddish terms. (There's a newer version that's pretty short, but the older edition is dictionary-thick way more fun.)”
“it's funny you mention the glossary idea. i actually looked in the back while i was reading the first 100 or so pages expecting to find one and was surprised not to find one.i read it so long ago, but as i recall wonder boys is about a broken down writer/college professor who has been writing his magnum opus for like 20 years, his ex-wife, one of his students and several days and nights of misadventure. it's a much smaller, more intimate book than kavalier & clay or yiddish policeman's union but still thoroughly enjoyable.”
“I agree. Kavalier & Clay was simply amazing.”
“I've just begun reading The Yiddish Policemen's Union and I'm having some difficulty getting into it (I'm not even through the first chapter yet). I have a small understanding of Yiddish and it's not so much the words he uses but the context in which he uses them. For instance the word "latkes" which is a potato pancake...yet he is using it to refer to the officer that he's waiting for at the hotel to continue the investigation. I find myself re-reading things and wishing the book had a glossery. I do really like the feeling of 40's film noir to it (I visualize the movie version in black and white!) but I'm really hoping that the book begins to flow a bit more.”
“Thank you for the info. I will definitely check out some more of his books. I really was amazed at how he created such an amzing world as a setting for this murder mystery. He does such a good job of pulling it off. The only problem I have had so far is understanding some of the yiddish (I think?) that he slips into the book, and I also get very lost if I take a break from the book for any period of time. Thanks again for your response, best of luck in writing your own Pulitzer Prize winning book! Do you have any work that you could share with us ?”
“Thank you, that is good to hear. I understand that he is a good author, but it has been hard to plow through some of the vocabulary. I will definitely look for Kavalier & Clay next. Does anyone know what Wonder Boys is about?”
“nothing else he's written is so jewish-centric as this one. kavalier & clay has plenty of aspects of judaism and jewish themes, but this book is almost off-putting in how steeped it is in jewish culture. as far as i'm concerned, the amazing adventures of kavalier & clay is chabon's masterpiece. it's so generous, moving, and beatifully written in addition to dealing with themes as timeless as alienation, love, friendship, and family. it is, simply put, one of the finest novels of the past 20 or 30 years and few writers, chabon included, will ever better it. the new novel will only suffer by comparison. taken alone, it's a wonderful read. the characters - especially landsman - are typically well drawn, and scarcely a page goes by where chabon's gift for language doesn't stop you in your tracks and make you read a sentence or paragraph over again. once you adjust to the jewish setting and themes, you can settle in for a fun read. ”
