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Cover of Motherless Brooklyn * Film Tie In

Literary Fiction · 2019 · PG-13

Motherless Brooklyn * Film Tie In

by J. LETHEM

A detective with Tourette's. A dead mentor. A mystery that won't quiet down.

SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE, MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN IS RELEASED IN CINEMAS DECEMBER 2019 'A detective novel of winning humour and exhilarating originality.' Sunday Times Lionel Essrog is Brooklyn's very own self-appointed Human Freakshow, an orphan whose Tourette's Disease drives him to bark, count, and rip apart our language in startling and original ways. Together with three veterans of the St Vincent's Home for Boys, he works for mobster Frank Minna. But when Frank is fatally stabbed and his widow skips town, Lionel attempts to untangle the threads of the case.

For14+GenreLiterary FictionLength311 pagesRead time~8.6 hours

This analysis was generated by AI from publicly available reader reviews, literary criticism, and book discussions. It has not been verified by a BookLens community reviewer and may contain errors. Be the first to verify →

Content snapshot

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What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.

Violence

Some

A murder investigation; some street violence; a climactic confrontation

Language

A lot

Strong language throughout — including Lionel's tic-driven outbursts; some crude terms

Sexual Content

Some

Adult relationships; some sexual content, not explicit

Substance Use

Some

Social drinking; some drug references in the criminal milieu

Emotional Intensity

Some

Tourette's syndrome portrayed from the inside — Lionel's experience of his own disorder is the novel's emotional and psychological center

What this book is about

Lionel Essrog, an orphan with Tourette's syndrome who spouts tics and compulsive wordplay, was rescued from a Brooklyn orphanage by private detective Frank Minna. When Minna is murdered, Lionel sets out to find the killer — navigating a world of mob connections, Japanese Zen centers, and Brooklyn street life, while his own exploding mind becomes both his greatest obstacle and his sharpest tool. An original, deeply felt crime novel.

Notes for sensitive readers

Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.

Strong language — including Lionel's tic-driven verbal outbursts

Murder investigation in a criminal underworld

Tourette's portrayed with unflinching intimacy

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