Lionel Essrog, the so-called Brooklyn Monster Circus, is an orphan suffering from Tourette's syndrome, a neurological disorder that compels him to shout and count compulsively, breaking language in unexpected and original ways. Along with three other "veterans" of St. Vincent's Home for Boys, he works for small-time crook Frank Minna in a chauffeur service that doubles as an informal detective agency. Life without Frank Minna, the charismatic King of Brooklyn, would be impossible, so none of them care if the jobs he assigns them aren't exactly legal. But when Frank is murdered, one of Lionel's colleagues ends up in prison, the other two vie for leadership, and Frank's widow disappears, Lionel's world falls apart. This outcast, who can't even complete a simple sentence properly, will attempt to unravel the case while trying to tame the verbal storms erupting in his mind.

"Motherless Brooklyn" is an unimaginably charming, inventively peculiar, and utterly captivating homage to classic detective stories, while simultaneously transcending the genre's boundaries. A great social novel of our time.

"Philip Marlowe would blush with shame. And he would tip his hat to him."
(Newsweek)

"The murder mystery is interesting in itself, but even more interesting and entertaining is the way Lethem unravels the mysteries of his Tourette's-afflicted hero. In this case, it takes a master wordsmith to render such a master wordsmith."
(Time)