The thing that originally drew me to Jonathan Lethem's Motherless Brooklyn was Amazon's editorial review.

Pop quiz. Please complete the following sentence: "There are days when I get up in the morning and stagger into the bathroom and begin running water and then I look up and I don't even recognize my own _." If you answered face, then your name is obviously not Jonathan Lethem. Instead of taking the easy out, the genre-busting novelist concludes this by-the-numbers string of words with toothbrush in the mirror.

Throughout the novel, Lethem has a way of taking a cliché and twisting it into something unexpected. Not conincidentally, Lionel Essrog, the main character, spews out twisted language in releasing his Tourette's Syndrome tics.

The Unexpected

From the beginning, the novel reveals itself to be a a series of contrasts. It opens with a stakeout, a situation requiring stealth and cunning. Neither are present. Lionel, Touretting lines like "Eat me Mister Dicky-weed!" (p. 15), is most definitely not an exemplar of stealth. Yet Lionel isn't the only contributor to the situation gone bad. Coney, as the stakeout turns into a tail, loses the E-Z Pass—"Eatmepass!" (p. 19)—toting target car by waiting in line at the cash booth. Despite the Keystone Cops set-up, I took the entire book seriously and never thought of it as a comedy even though comedic elements dotted the narrative. And that surprised me. Shouldn't a mystery starring a detective with Tourette's be funny? Did you come across anything you didn't expect?

Tourette's Syndrome

We've all been in uncomfortable situations. I'm reminded of a subway ride with a homeless man who was having some sort of itch attack. He sat in his seat moaning and grunting and scratching. When the itchiness spread to his thighs, he actually pulled his pants down in order to scratch more effectively. The other riders and I put on our blinders, inconspicuously moved to the end of the car, and were thankful when the train arrived at our respective stops. Lionel tells the reader, "A Touretter can also be the invisible man" (p. 44). On the subway, we made the scratcher invisible in plain sight. Were we embarrassed for ourselves by being uncomfortable in the car with him or were we embarrassed for him and his uncomfortable situation? Have you ever found yourself sharing space with an invisible man?

Lionel's Language

Lionel's Tourette's Syndrome mainly manifests itself as a series of verbal tics. It runs the gamut from playing with words ["I'mafrayedknot." (p. 33)] to revealing private thoughts ["Talk to me about fool-me-softly—Fujisaki." (p. 232)] to searching for his own identity ["Lyrical Eggdog! Logical Assnog!" (p. 104)]. Since Lionel is the narrator, we also have an added peek at his internal monologue, well, dialogue, really. At times it almost seems as if there are two narrators: Lionel and Lionel's Tourette's brain. What did you think about Lionel's use of language? As you read, were you impressed mostly by Lionel and Lionel's Tourette's or did you hear Lethem's voice come through?

The Detective Novel

Clearly, Motherless Brooklyn tips its hat to the classic detective novel with a nod to wiseguy escapades. As I read, though, I found the actual whodunit to be the least interesting aspect of the story. Frank Minna, Lionel's savior and coiner of the book's title, was an important enough character, to Lionel at least, to drive the plot. However, I didn't care who killed him or why. I was much more interested in the process of solving the crime than the crime's solution. In particular, I loved how Lethem worked in metacognitive observations about being in a detective novel. Early on, Frank tells Coney, "'What's with piece? Say gun, Gilbert'" (p. 8). Later during Lionel's investigation, he hopes a group of heavies would "recall the protocol from crime movies" and describes one of them as being "schooled enough in the clichés to be manipulable" (p. 149). What did you think of the detective story? Was it what you focused on as you read the novel?

Related Links

Jonathan Lethem's web site

Salon's review from September 1999

IMDB Page for Motherless Brooklyn (2007) written, directed, and produced by and starring Edward Norton

Tourette Syndrome Association

HBO documentary I have Tourette's But Tourette's Doesn't Have Me

Context is everything. Dress me up and see. I’m a carnival barker, an auctioneer, a downtown performance artist, a speaker in tongues, a senator drunk on filibuster. I’ve got Tourette’s. My mouth won’t quit, though mostly I whisper or subvocalize like I’m reading aloud, my Adam’s apple bobbing, jaw muscle beating like a miniature heart under my cheek, the noise suppressed, the words escaping silently, mere ghosts of themselves, husks empty of breath and tone. (If I were a Dick Tracy villain, I’d have to be Mumbles.) In this diminished form the words rush out of the cornucopia of my brain to course over the surface of the world, tickling reality like fingers on piano keys. Caressing, nudging. They’re an invisible army on a peacekeeping mission, a peaceable horde. They mean no harm. They placate, interpret, massage. Everywhere they’re smoothing down imperfections, putting hairs in place, putting ducks in a row, replacing divots. Counting and polishing the silver. Patting old ladies gently on the behind, eliciting a giggle. Only—here’s the rub—when they find too much perfection, when the surface is already buffed smooth, the ducks already orderly, the old ladies complacent, then my little army rebels, breaks in the stores. Reality needs a prick here and there, the carpet needs a flaw. My words begin plucking at threads nervously, seeking purchase, a weak point, a vulnerable ear. That’s when it comes, the urge to shout in the church, the nursery, the crowded movie house. It’s an itch at first. Inconsequential. But that itch is soon a torrent behind a straining dam. Noah’s flood. That itch is my whole life. Here it comes now. Cover your ears. Build an ark.

“Eat me!” I scream.

—Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem

As you can see by the tote board on the left, our discussions will be revived in September with the book I was supposed to moderate in June. I’m excited and have already begun rereading and taking notes. If one other person reads it and joins in, I’ll be happy.

As you can see by the list on the left, I signed myself up for March?s discussion so I wouldn?t have to beg for a moderator. Then I realized I should also sign up for June, since I?ve moderated June since BookBlog began.

Neverwhere is our second title by Neil Gaiman, and it?s one of those books I wasn?t able to put down. It was just as engrossing when I recently read it the second time around since it only took me three days to finish. Mythology, fantasy, and horror all come together to create a fascinating world beneath the streets of London.

Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem, on the other hand, is a murder mystery with an interesting twist: the narrator is an amateur detective with Tourette?s Syndrome. Sometimes satire and sometimes hard-core literature, I admired the main character?s tenacity despite his handicap. In addition, I appreciated the nostalgic portrayal of New York City since I travel there every day for work.

May and July are available and I?m in the mood for begging. Any takers?