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Motherless Brooklyn - Community Reviews back

by Jonathan Lethem
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aka Grasshopper
aka Grasshopper rated it 11 years ago
Lionel Essrog is an unforgettable character. Like most fictional detectives he has one defining characteristic, something which sets him apart. Lionel has Tourette's Syndrome. This turns out to be an asset for him when he sets out to find his mentor's killer because everyone assumes he is stupid. Wh...
Skinny Dipping Into Books
Skinny Dipping Into Books rated it 12 years ago
like The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.... except:1. It's about an adult with tourettes syndrome 2. the prose and writing and dialog is more complex, and thus evokes a visceral response 3. the DX is explained and explored in a few ways that drifts away from TCIOTDITNT.3a: its part ...
JonathanPeto
JonathanPeto rated it 13 years ago
I enjoyed this story quite a bit. I have no idea if the main character, Lionel Essrog, is portrayed accurately or well, since he has Tourette's Syndrome, but it's interesting, as well as funny and sad at times. It's a detective story, a spoof perhaps, but not an obnoxious send-up. The genre's cliche...
M Sarki
M Sarki rated it 14 years ago
I mention this book in this review:http://mewlhouse.hubpages.com/_1qsqsuzy8itx3/hub/A-Time-For-Fists
Clif's Book World
Clif's Book World rated it 16 years ago
Imagine a personality with Tourette's combined with compulsive touching and counting, surrounded in an environment of Brooklyn speak and Mafia threats. This combination makes for some hilarious conversational interchanges in this book. Is it a murder mystery? A noir thriller? A stylistic tour de f...
cindywho
cindywho rated it 17 years ago
The reader does a terrific job with the character of the narrator, a Brooklyn detective who has Tourette's syndrome. The plot dragged a bit in its boilerplate noir and backstory - it's not my favorite genre, but it was definitely a worthwhile listen.
altheaann
altheaann rated it 18 years ago
A really well-done mystery, featuring a protagonist with Tourette's Syndrome. Lionel is an orphan, but when he and 3 other boys are picked at an orphanage to help out a man named Frank Minna, doing odd jobs, his life is changed... Minna's a small-time mobster, but he becomes a father figure to the n...
What I'm reading
What I'm reading rated it 19 years ago
Again not the classic mystery novel, far from it. The plot is not the main star here. Lionel, the lead character is. His inner dialogs, his fears, his obsessions. You see, Lionel has Tourette syndrome and Motherless Brooklyn is as much a trip inside Lionel's brain as it is a quest to finally become ...
Ami's Hoard
Ami's Hoard rated it 19 years ago
Lionel Essrog, a detective suffering from Tourette's syndrome, which compels him to count, tap and make strange vocalizations at inopportune moments, spins the narrative as he tracks down the killer of his boss, Frank Minna. Minna enlisted Lionel and his friends when they were teenagers living at Sa...
Gosh I Wish I was a Good Writer
Gosh I Wish I was a Good Writer rated it 24 years ago
This was a solid novel that was wonderful. We follow a man with Tourette's Syndrome try to solve the mystery of who killed his mentor/boss-man. Lethem is an amazing author who tells a wonderful tale.
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