Motherless Brooklyn,New

Tell Your Story Walking.'St. Vincents Home For Boys, Brooklyn, Early 1970S. For Lionel Essrog, A.K.A. The Human Freakshow, A Victim Of Tourettes Syndrome (An Uncontrollable Urge To Shout Out Nonsense, Touch Every Surface In Reach, Rearrange Objects), Frank Minna Is A Savior. A Local Tough Guy And Fixer, Minna Shows Up To Take Lionel And Three Of His Fellow Orphans On Mysterious Errands: They Empty A Store Of Stereos As The Owner Watches; Destroy A Small Amusement Park; Visit Old Italian Men. The Four Grow Up To Be The Minna Men, A Flybynight Detective Agencycumlimo Service, And Their Days And Nights Revolve Around Frank, The Prince Of Brooklyn, Who Glides Through Life On Street Smarts, Attitude, And Secret Knowledge. Then One Dreadful Night, Frank Is Knifed And Thrown Into A Dumpster, And Lionel Must Become A Real Detective.As Lionel Struggles To Find Franks Killerwithout Letting His Tourettes Get In The Wayhes Forced To Delve Into The Complex, Shadowy Web Of Relationships, Threats, And Favors That Make Up The Brooklyn World He Thought He Knew So Well. No Onenot Frank, Not Franks Bitter Wife, Julia, Not The Other Minna Menis Who They Seem. Not Even The Human Freakshow.All Of The Lethem Touches That Have Thrilled Critics Are Herecrackling Dialogue, Sly Humor, Dizzying Plot Twistsbut Theyre Secondary To Wonderfully Full, Tragic, Funny Characterizations, And A Dazzling Evocation Of Place. Indeed, Brooklynwith Its Charming Folkways And Language, Its Unique Style Of Badguy Swagger And Sentimentalitybecomes Itself A Major Character.Motherless Brooklyn Is A Bravura Performance: Funny, Tense, Touching, Extravagant. This Novel Signals The Coming Of Age Of A Major American Writer.