In the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, prose magician Michael Chabon conjured up the golden age of comic books -- intertwining history, legend, and storytelling verve. In The Final Solution, he has condensed his boundless vision to craft a short, suspenseful tale of compassion and wit that reimagines the classic nineteenth-century detective story.
In deep retirement in the English country-side, an eighty-nine-year-old man, vaguely recollected by locals as a once-famous detective, is more concerned with his beekeeping than with his fellow man. Into his life wanders Linus Steinman, nine years old and mute, who has escaped from Nazi Germany with his sole companion: an African gray parrot. What is the meaning of the mysterious strings of German numbers the bird spews out -- a top-secret SS code? The keys to a series of Swiss bank accounts perhaps? Or something more sinister? Is the solution to this last case -- the real explanation of the mysterious boy and his parrot -- beyond even the reach of the once-famed sleuth?
Subtle revelations lead the reader to a wrenching resolution. This brilliant homage, which won the 2004 Aga Khan Prize for fiction, is the work of a master storyteller at the height of his powers.
Industry Reviews
"Simple and startlingly sad.Chabon has created a minor masterpiece." -- Hartford Courant "Infused with a graceful, elegiac atmosphere.wrought with innovative construction, glittering with epiphany.remarkable." -- Buffalo News "Chabon's writing here is elegant and limber.[The Final Solution] is a little mystery story with big ideas." -- San Francisco Chronicle (Best Books of 2004) "Exuberant.the real mystery is how Chabon managed to fit so much hope and humanity into such a brief tale." -- BookPage "Brilliant and unswervingly entertaining." -- The Forward "Delightful.and deceptively profound...Chabon shows his greatness." -- Louisville Courier Journal "Packed with gorgeous writing.a knockout. You'll be done before you know it. Then you might well read it again." -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel "A knockout.you'll be done before you know it. Then you might well read it again." -- Denver Post "A haunting novella." -- Publishers Weekly "A profound pleasure." -- New York magazine A profound pleasure. --New York magazine A haunting novella. --Publishers Weekly "Chabon's writing here is elegant and limber...[The Final Solution] is a little mystery story with big ideas."--San Francisco Chronicle (Best Books of 2004) "Michael Chabon, is, simply, the coolest writer in America."--Christian Science Monitor "One of the best-written American novels published this fall . . . an experiment by a master."--The New York Sun "A profound pleasure."--New York magazine "Delightful...and deceptively profound...Chabon shows his greatness."--Louisville Courier Journal "The writing is everything that Chabon's fans expect--gorgeous, muscular, mildly melancholic...wonderfully executed."--Baltimore Sun "A haunting novella."--Publishers Weekly "Packed with gorgeous writing...a knockout. You'll be done before you know it. Then you might well read it again."--Milwaukee Journal Sentinel "Brilliant and unswervingly entertaining."--The Forward "A knockout...you'll be done before you know it. Then you might well read it again."--Denver Post "Exuberant...the real mystery is how Chabon managed to fit so much hope and humanity into such a brief tale."--BookPage "Infused with a graceful, elegiac atmosphere...wrought with innovative construction, glittering with epiphany...remarkable."--Buffalo News "Watching Chabon skillfully zigzag between literary and genre is half the fun of the book...refreshing."--Miami Herald "Simple and startlingly sad...Chabon has created a minor masterpiece."--Hartford Courant One of the best-written American novels published this fall . . . an experiment by a master. --The New York Sun" A profound pleasure. --New York magazine" Delightful and deceptively profound...Chabon shows his greatness. --Louisville Courier Journal" Simple and startlingly sad Chabon has created a minor masterpiece. --Hartford Courant" A haunting novella. --Publishers Weekly" Brilliant and unswervingly entertaining. --The Forward" The writing is everything that Chabon s fans expect--gorgeous, muscular, mildly melancholic wonderfully executed. --Baltimore Sun" Packed with gorgeous writing a knockout. You ll be done before you know it. Then you might well read it again. --Milwaukee Journal Sentinel" Michael Chabon, is, simply, the coolest writer in America. --Christian Science Monitor" Chabon s writing here is elegant and limber [The Final Solution] is a little mystery story with big ideas. --San Francisco Chronicle (Best Books of 2004)" A knockout you ll be done before you know it. Then you might well read it again. --Denver Post" Watching Chabon skillfully zigzag between literary and genre is half the fun of the book refreshing. --Miami Herald" Exuberant the real mystery is how Chabon managed to fit so much hope and humanity into such a brief tale. --BookPage" Infused with a graceful, elegiac atmosphere wrought with innovative construction, glittering with epiphany remarkable. --Buffalo News"
