“He’s just a big mouse, Daddy, a vigorous louse, big as a house, a couch, a man, a plan, a canal, apocalypse."
Probably one of the few books featuring a lead character with Tourette's. Lionel Essrog also has OCD. Lethem doesn't try too much to mimic Lionel on the page as go into Lionel's head and explore what it means to Lionel, how it impacts his daily existence. Lionel is one of four orphans who all grew up together and now work for Frank Minna, supposedly as detectives. Lionel and his pals are not the brightest bulbs, but they are loyal to Frank. When Frank turns up dead, things start to fall apart. It becomes apparent that Frank was working on the dark side of things, and its up to Lionel to figure it all out.
This is standard detective fiction framework, but it is also about growing up - while Lionel's childhood is glimpsed mainly through a few flashbacks, even as an adult he is a bit of a man child. The extent to which Frank has sheltered (and manipulated) his boys slowly becomes apparent to Lionel over the course of the novel. Also, the complexity of people and situations becomes more apparent to him as well. Lionel's tics set him apart early on as the fool of the group, but it hides his intelligence and sensitivity, two things he's never called upon to use while Frank is alive. But after his death, they give Lionel the cover he needs to unravel the complex chain of events that have occurred. There's a femme fatale (of course), odd old Italian mobsters, Zen masters (and an attractive and somewhat goofy Zen student), Japanese businessmen and old family relationships gone bad.
The choice of tile is something I have often wondered about. obviously all the orphans are motherless and Frank would is their father figure, but that seems a bit too easy. Perhaps it is also the lack of any nurturing available to any of the characters in this hard boiled world. The female characters are few to be found at all, and the ones that do show up aren't there to provide any support.
I did enjoy The Fortress of Solitude more than this, but this is definitely worth every minute spent with it.
