| |
| | Tucson Weekly: Madman, P.I. (October 7 - October 13, 1999) |
 | | Unlike other recent fiction, such as Anne Tyler's Patchwork Planet, which has utilized a Tourette's-afflicted character as a mere gimmick, Lethem uses his "freaky dick" to engender a thoughtful rumination on how the acceptance of one's inherent difference from others dismantles the walls of fear and self-doubt created by society. |
 | | Throughout the novel, Lionel's verbal tics are contrasted with those of the numerous eccentric characters who assault him with their own peculiar forms of language distortion (heavy Brooklynese, mob slang, Zen Buddhist riddles, etc.), conveying the notion that to some extent, everyone creates their own language to place themselves in reality. |
 | | As Lionel struggles to break the surface of his own reality and find his place in the world, a satisfyingly tense and complex murder mystery plunges him headfirst into the world of the hard-boiled pulp novel. |
| www.tucsonweekly.com /tw/1999-10-07/book.html (979 words) |
|