Line #20 Literature/MotherlessBrooklyn


1	[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/motherless_brooklyn_9767.jpg]]
2
3	''Motherless Brooklyn'' is a postmodern novel by Creator/JonathanLethem which tells the tale of Lionel Essrog, low level gangster/detective extraordinare, afflicted with Tourette's Syndrome. Essrog works for Brooklyn Gangster Frank Minna, as one of his "Minna Men", along with three boys he grew up with in a Brooklyn orphanage. When Frank is killed in a mysterious meeting gone wrong, Lionel takes it upon himself to solve the crime. Taking his cues from hardboiled detective films, Lionel finds himself making enemies of elderly mobsters and a zen Buddhist center. The mystery deepens when Lionel becomes involved with Minna's ex-wife as well as Buddist practitioner Kimmery, and learns more about his old boss and father figure than he ever thought possible.
4
5	It's a sweet, exciting, kind of sad story that won the 1999 National Book Critics Circle Award and the 2000 Gold Dagger award for Crime fiction. A loose film adaptation, reimagined with a 1950s setting and directed, written by and starring Creator/EdwardNorton as Lionel, spent 20 years going through DevelopmentHell, but was eventually made and released on November 1st, 2019.
6
7	----
8	!! This novel provides examples of:
9
10	* AloofBigBrother: Girard to Frank. Tony and Danny to Lionel and Gilbert.
11	* TheDon: Matricardi and Rockaforte. The two old men that Frank answers to.
12	* TheFamilyForTheWholeFamily: Frank certainly thinks of his Men, or at least Lionel, in this manner, not even allowing them to carry guns due to their incompetence.
13	* AFatherToHisMen: Frank Minna to Lionel, the rest of the Minna Men, at least at the start of their relationship.
14	* {{Gayngster}}: Two mob bosses are caught unaware holding hands, quickly withdrawn once they know they're being watched.
15	* GenreSavvy: Everyone. They all act as if they are part of a detective novel which... they are.
16	%% ZCE * HardboiledDetective: Lionel tries... and fails.
17	* HeartwarmingOrphan: The flashbacks to Lionel's childhood, especially the scene with the penguins.
18	* InLoveWithTheGangstersGirl: Technically, Lionel and Frank's wife don't hook up until after his death, but later it's revealed that [[spoiler:Julia has had relations with every one of the Minna Men]].
19	* JewishMother: "Irving, when are you coming home?" [[spoiler:The joke actually reveals the answer to the mystery of Frank Minna.]]
20	* MissingMom: Every Minna Man.
21	* NeighborhoodFriendlyGangsters: Frank obviously has good relations with the community he operates out of, as he's able to go to the local orphanage to find new recruits.
22	* {{Parental Substitute}}: Frank Minna to his men.
23	* {{Post Modernism}}: It's a detective story about a man who's obsessed with detective stories. Each character is following a little script about how gangsters and detectives are supposed to act. When Frank Minna dies, Lionel's script begins to unravel.
24	* {{Private Eye Monologue}}: Most of the book, sometimes hilariously with Lionel's eatmebailey! Fuckwit!taptaptap tourette's
25	* ShoutOut:
26	** Lionel listens to Music/{{Prince}}'s "How Come U Don't Call Me Any More" after Minna's death.
27	** Minna compares Tony to Film/{{Scarface\|1983}}
28	** Gilbert's coat makes him look like the Michelin Man or The Red Queen from ''Literature/AliceInWonderland''.
29	** There's also Film/JamesBond, Franchise/{{Superman}}, Tourette's compared to being Literature/TheInvisibleMan and all this in the first 100 pages.
30	* {{Siblings in Crime}}: Frank and Gerard Minna. Also, while they aren't biologically related, all of the Minna Men.
31	* {{Sibling Triangle}}: Between [[spoiler:Frank, Julia, and Girard Minna]]; also between [[spoiler:the various Minna Men and Julia, except the Minnas are emotional brothers rather than biological]].
32	* {{Verbal Tic}}: Lionel Essrog obviously, particularly with "Eatmebailey".
33	* {{What Now Ending}}: So Lionel's solved and avenged Frank's murder, but [[spoiler:nothing actually changes. None of the mobsters or Yakuza get any comeuppance outside of a single hitman, Kimmery leaves him, Julia takes off to parts unknown, L&L goes on as before with Danny taking Frank's place and their "garbage cop" friend taking Tony's, and Lionel's entire father/son relationship with Minna has been called into question]]; kind of a downer, actually.
34	* {{Yakuza}}: At the end, [[spoiler:when Lionel travels to Maine to confront Julia, the Yakuza are rumored to have taken over the local fishing industry]].
35	* {{You Watch Too Much X}}: Tony accuses Lionel of learning everything he knows from old gangster movies and Frank Minna. Which Lionel admits is true.

Context Literature / MotherlessBrooklyn