The Yiddish Policemen's Union

I think the most amazing thing about Michael Chabon books is how he takes genre fiction and creates a work which is simultaneously such a faithful and true expression of the tropes and mores of that genre, and yet his language, the settings, and the characters he creates are so lush and unexpected that the novel is so unexpected, surprising and joyous. There's something fantastical about his novels that I find myself using words like adore in reference to them (and while normally that would make me grumpy, I just can't stay mad at such a cheeky little book).