Motherless Brooklyn is about Lionel Essrog, who appears to have Tourette's syndrome. The book is written in such a way as to narrate Lionel's innermost thoughts and show the reader that he is smarter than anyone else in the novel. This includes the detective Lionel runs into, who completely ignores the possibility that Lionel has Tourette's syndrome. And believe he's dumber than they give him credit for - which, if he were a real person, most people would think the same thing. In telling the story, Motherless Brooklyn also offers a rare glimpse into the mind of someone with Tourette's syndrome. «Lionel, my name is. Frank and the Minna Men pronounced it to rhyme with vinyl. Lionel Essrog. Line-everything. Responsible hypothesis. Final commitment. Pissclam ironic. And so on. My name was the original verbal taffy. (Lethem, Jonathan. “Motherless Brooklyn” A Division of Random Book House. 2000. Book.) While the other characters fail to solve Frank Minna's murder, Lionel does. This is because he uses Tourette's syndrome to his advantage and doesn't let go of the suggestion that Frank Minna gave him before he died, Irving. And while other authors might have painted Lionel as not the sharpest tool in the shed because of his Tourette's or even because he was taking care of someone he isn't. Lionel is depicted as more human, although he is naive about the fact that Frank Minna had associates in the mafia, but he eventually learns about it and grows from it. He now knows that Frank Minna was not the kind of person he thought he was; and instead of reacting negatively to the person he thought he was and instead of reacting negatively he knows that it will be better for others