The Yiddish Policemen's Union

By Michael Chabon,

Book cover of The Yiddish Policemen's Union

Book description

The brilliantly original new novel from Michael Chabon, author of THE ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY and WONDER BOYS.

What if, as Franklin Roosevelt once proposed, Alaska - and not Israel - had become the homeland for the Jews after the Second World War? In Michael Chabon's Yiddish-speaking 'Alyeska', Orthodox…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

7 authors picked The Yiddish Policemen's Union as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

What if Jews settled in Alaska instead of Israel? There is a question I’d never asked, but I loved chewing on it. Alternative histories are great at exploring questions of cause and effect, the rippling power of people and places, and the very existence of fate.

They are not to everyone’s taste, so how about a murder mystery instead? Let’s call it that, and you won’t be put off by worries about excessive background and explanation. When exposition comes in the form of detective work, it is so much more palatable. And personal. Chabon feeds the reader ideas the way…

From Michael's list on big ideas.

I adore Michael Chabon and have read almost all of his books, but I was surprised I hadn’t gotten to this novel until 2022.

I have Jewish roots, and I love any opportunity to see Yiddish in print, so it was fascinating for me to get involved in the world of this novel, which is part detective novel, part speculative fiction, and part cultural exploration. I had so much empathy for the characters. They felt like the people I’d grown up with.

I’ve read this book so many times that I had to buy a hardcover edition to replace the paperback I wore out.

Michael Chabon creates an alternative world where the Jewish people didn’t last long in Israel after World War Two. They wound up in the Federal District of Sitka, Alaska, with a lease for the land from the U.S. government, but now the lease is up, and they have to move. Somewhere. Almost anywhere.

Good story if it ends there, right?

But wait, this one doesn’t.

In the middle of this political conundrum, homicide detective Meyer Landsman finds a…

Book cover of Edge of the Known World

Sheri T. Joseph Author Of Edge of the Known World

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Sheri's 3 favorite reads in 2024

What is my book about?

Edge of the Known World is a near-future love and adventure story about a brilliant young refugee caught in era when genetic screening tests like 23AndMe make it impossible to hide a secret identity. The novel is distributed by Simon & Schuster. It is a USA Today Bestseller and 2024 American Fiction Awards Winner in multiple categories, including Best New Fiction, Political Thriller, and Science Fiction: General.

Alexandra is a gifted student, adoring daughter, and exuberant prankster. She is also hiding in the open. After a blissful childhood, Alex learned she’s an illegal refugee from a brutal regime, smuggled into…

By Sheri T. Joseph,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Edge of the Known World as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Fans of Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake will be swept away by this riveting speculative fiction adventure and love story about family, genetic privacy, and the onrushing future of surveillance technology.

2024 American Fiction Awards Winner in multiple categories, including Best New Fiction, Political Thriller, and Science Fiction

Alexandra Tashen is a brilliant student, adoring daughter, merry wit, and exuberant prankster. After a blissful childhood on a Texas ranch, she learns the truth: She is a refusé, an illegal refugee smuggled into the Allied Nations as an infant. Everyone from her birth region carries a harmless but detectable bit of…


I’ll read anything Chabon writes but this novel has the distinction of being the first book I ever read to my oldest (he was a baby! It was for the words). The Nebula award judges described it as a cross between science-fiction and alternate history but I feel it’s more of a Sam Spade-style crime noir story crossed with alternate history more similar to Robert Harris’ Fatherland. Through the lens of a hard-boiled detective, we encounter a world that might’ve been had the US followed through with the real-historical possibility of settling World War II’s Jewish refugees in Sitka…

Start with the supposition that a district in the Alaskan panhandle was put aside to receive Jews fleeing from Nazi persecution, and that those refugees created their own Yiddish societyone that is now being dissolved as their rights to live there come to an end. The novel’s protagonist, a homicide detective living in a seedy hotel, must also contend with a murder that is being covered up by social and political forces. This is a fascinating traditional noir mystery set in an alternative historical environment; it introduced me to Michael Chabon’s writing and I’ve never looked back.

From Barbara's list on Jewish science fiction and fantasy.

In putting together this list I determined not to include any books where the Nazis win World War Two and not to include any series that last ridiculously long. We’ll see if I can keep to that. This book is brilliant. Playful. Fun. And Serious. Imagine that the Jewish homeland had not been established in Israel, after World War Two, but in a part of Alaska. Then throw in a detective story based around a murder. And mobsters. And intrigue. And plenty of plot twists. And the lease on this Jewish homeland running out. And maybe even a messiah figure.…

This Hugo Award-winning novel takes place in an imagined reality where the Jews settled in a patch of Alaska and Israel was never founded. While it’s more alternate history than sci-fi—and one of the very best alternate history stories, in my opinion—at its core it’s a classic detective story told in brilliant prose that pays homage to noir writers such as Chandler, Hammett, and MacDonald, but funnier and much stranger.

Want books like The Yiddish Policemen's Union?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The Yiddish Policemen's Union.

Browse books like The Yiddish Policemen's Union

Book cover of In Cold Blood
Book cover of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Book cover of The Gunslinger

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,388

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in murder, murder mystery, and criminal investigations?

Murder 1,073 books
Murder Mystery 565 books