The Yiddish Policemen's Union

这不是寻常的侦探小说，而是一场关于'临时'如何变成'永久'的历史想象：二战后以色列崩塌，美国将阿拉斯加的锡特卡划为犹太人的'临时定居点'，结果这一拖就是六十年。当'临时'终将被归还、梦想濒临破碎，一桩谋杀案成了撬动整个族群命运的支点。小说最耐人寻味之处，在于它把宏大历史折叠进市井烟火——意第绪语取代希伯来语、犹太左翼在特务操弄下自相残杀、联邦调查局情报官四十年间的权谋算计，都被编织进冷硬派探案的骨架里。它适合这样一些读者：不满足于'谁是凶手'，而想看见一个被历史遗忘的角落如何自己长出语言、尊严与荒诞。当然，浓到化不开的犹太文化密语、匠气的叙事腔调，也会让部分人望而生畏——这正是它褒贬两极的原因。

Michael Chabon (b. 1963) is an acclaimed and bestselling author whose works include the Pulitzer Prize–winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (2000). Chabon achieved literary fame at age twenty-four with his first novel, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh (1988), which was a major critical and commercial success. He then published Wonder Boys (1995), another bestseller, which was made into a film starring Michael Douglas. One of America’s most distinctive voices, Chabon has been called “a magical prose stylist” by the New York Times Book Review, and is known for his lively writing, nostalgia for bygone modes of storytelling, and deep empathy for the human predicament.