Yiddish Policeman's Union

In the interest of full disclosure I didn't actually read Michael Chabon's YIDDISH POLICEMAN'S UNION. I gobbled up this tasty treat as a collection of audio files on my ipod.
Let me stop right now and say that people should take use their ipods to listen to books. Go to your library and rip a few cds on to your computer.
For me this was a way to finally finish a book I had five false starts with. In the past I had gotten 10 or 15 pages into UNION and found I couldn't keep my momentum going. Taking this book on in another form, which allowed me to give it my undivided interest with less energy, was the change i needed to get over the hump that was keeping me from a very interesting book.
I say interesting because the plot of the novel isn't great. It's something we've seen before in terms of bad guys that aren't really bad with motives that aren't all that dark. But it's a story that has never been told in this context, which makes it that great.
My favorite thing about this book is the stage it sets. Essentially I love the set dressings of each scene. I also enjoyed the language and beat of it. This was accentuated by the book's reader, Peter Riegert.
Riegert provides a depth to the story that might have been lacking if I had merely read it. This aspect of audio books is one I find especially compelling about them, as a good voice performance can increase the quality of the experience with the book. People who argue that you need to read the book to get the experience are holding on to tradition merely for the sake of tradition. Maybe inflections and style by the reader can alter the perception of the book, but that's why there is a director of the process. For me it just adds another layer, and can even salvage a not great book.
But back to the book...
The world created in UNION is that of a 60 year old jewish community in Alaska. And the greatest success of Chabon is that this community feels real. I believe in this world. I immerse myself in this world, not thinking for a moment that it's a fantasy beyond belief. Essentially the setting is another character, and probably my favorite character.
This is a must read.