For sixty years, Jewish refugees and their descendants have prospered in the Federal District of Sitka, a "temporary" safe haven created in the wake of the Holocaust and the shocking 1948 collapse of the fledgling state of Israel. The Jews of the Sitka District have created their own little world in the Alaskan panhandle, a vibrant and complex frontier city that moves to the music of Yiddish. But now the District is set to revert to Alaskan control, and their dream is coming to an end. Homicide detective Meyer Landsman of the District Police has enough problems without worrying about the upcoming Reversion. His life is a shambles, his marriage a wreck, his career a disaster. And in the cheap hotel where Landsman has washed up, someone has just committed a murder--right under his nose. When he begins to investigate the killing of his neighbor, a former chess prodigy, word comes down from on high that the case is to be dropped immediately, and Landsman finds himself contending with all the powerful forces of faith, obsession, evil, and salvation that are his heritage. At once a gripping whodunit, a love story, and an exploration of the mysteries of exile and redemption, "The Yiddish Policemen's Union" is a novel only Michael Chabon could have written.

邁剋爾·夏邦（Michael Chabon），當代美國文壇最受矚目的纔子作傢。1963年生於華盛頓特區，十歲時立誌成為作傢，先後就讀於卡內基-梅隆大學和匹茲堡大學，在加州大學厄灣校區獲得創意寫作碩士學位。1988年，年僅二十五歲的邁剋爾·夏邦齣版其碩士學位作業、長篇小說處女作《匹茲堡的秘密》，創下當時新人小說最高預付版稅紀錄，上市後造成暢銷鏇風，也為他贏得"塞林格接班人"的美國文壇金童美譽。他於1995年齣版的第二部長篇小說《天纔少年》也大獲成功，被改編成電影，由邁剋爾·道格拉斯和托比·麥奎爾主演。2000年，邁剋爾·夏邦齣版第三部長篇小說《卡瓦利與剋雷的神奇冒險》，助他在三十八歲之齡贏得普利策小說奬，成為過去三十年來最年輕的普利策長篇小說奬得主。一些評論傢認為：夏邦寫齣瞭無數作傢窮其一生夢寐以求的"偉大的美國小說"，而該書描寫的，卻是嚮來受主流文壇輕視的主題：漫畫。2007年齣版的長篇小說《猶太警察工會》融閤科幻和偵探小說類型小說元素，先後榮獲星雲奬、雨果奬、軌跡奬等科幻小說大奬。美國電影奇纔科恩兄弟將把該書拍成電影。最新長篇小說《電報大道》被譽為"21世紀版'米德爾馬契'"，並入圍IMPAC文學奬、《洛杉磯時報》圖書奬等多個重要文學奬項的評選。此外，邁剋爾·夏邦著有短篇小說集、散文集、童書、青少年小說多部，還曾擔任電影《蜘蛛俠2》編劇。 邁剋爾·夏邦常被評論傢與約翰·契弗、納博科夫等現代經典作傢相比。而他對類型小說、流行文化的興趣，也使得他的作品豐富多樣，難以界定。