Booknotes 5.21

The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, by Michael Chabon, published 2007, science fiction, 480 pages. An alternate history murder mystery with writing that crackles and sparks. Earthy bits aside, I rather liked it and look forward to reading more Chabon. Hitler, by Joachim C. Fest (translated by Richard and Clara Winston), published 1973, biography, 1,500 pages. After spending that much time in that headspace I felt like I needed a mental shower, but it was still worthwhile to me (I’d never read anything in depth on Hitler himself). Tragic and disturbing, as expected. Interesting how obsessed he was with people not knowing who his family was, and his mania for beating architectural records, and his plans for introducing polygamy, and all the cake gobbling in the bunker at the very end. The insomnia and keeping court all night long reminded me of Stalin. “Though later on he was always involved in close social relationships, always surrounded by a host of people, his biography is eerily empty…