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Handsome, impeccably tuxedoed Bruno Alexander travels the world winning large sums of money from amateur "whales" who think they can challenge his peerless acumen at backgammon. Fronted by his pasty, vampiric manager, Edgar Falk, Bruno arrives in Berlin after a troubling run of bad luck in Singapore. Perhaps it was the chance encounter with his crass childhood acquaintance Keith Stolarsky and his smoldering girlfriend Tira Harpaz. Or perhaps it was the emergence of a blot that distorts his vision so he has to look at the board sideways.
Things don't go much better in Berlin. Bruno's flirtation with Madchen, the striking blonde he meets on the ferry, is inconclusive; the game at the unsettling Herr Kohler's mansion goes awry as his blot grows worse; he passes out and is sent to the local hospital, where he is given an extremely depressing diagnosis. Having run through Falk's money, Bruno turns to Stolarsky, who, for reasons of his own, agrees to fly Bruno to Berkeley, and to pay for the experimental surgery that might save his life.
Berkeley, where Bruno discovered his psychic abilities, and to which he vowed never to return. Amidst the patchouli flashbacks and Anarchist gambits of the local scene, between Tira's come-ons and Keith's machinations, Bruno confronts two existential questions: Is the gambler being played by life? And what if you're telepathic but it doesn't do you any good?
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
October 18, 2016 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780147520821
- File size: 303974 KB
- Duration: 10:33:16
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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July 4, 2016
In this pleasantly bizarre novel from Lethem (Lucky Alan), a down-on-his-luck backgammon hustler returns to his hometown of Berkeley, Calif., to undergo experimental facial surgery. After a cold streak in Berlin, telepath Alexander Bruno learns of a potentially deadly tumor in his face. In Singapore, a chance encounter with a wealthy high school friend, Keith Stolarksy, who offers to foot Bruno’s medical bills, draws Bruno back to California, where a Hendrix-loving surgeon removes his tumor but permanently scars his once-handsome face. To pay his debt to Stolarksy, who’s paid all his bills, medical and otherwise, Bruno is forced to work in one of Stolarsky’s restaurants, serving sliders to faux-punk Berkleyans in a sack-like mask. This leads Bruno to a final rebellion against Stolarsky, which plays right into the benefactor’s hands. Though inventive and well crafted, the novel neither fully endears its characters to the reader nor establishes narrative momentum, playing at themes and romantic entanglements that are expertly introduced but often under-explored and discarded. The impression is of a strong poker hand played without aggression, the hunger of a player out to prove himself. Agent: Eric Simonoff, WME Entertainment. -
In a rich, soft voice, narrator Mark Deakins portrays the handsome and "possibly psychic" professional backgammon player Bruno Alexander. This spirited story by bestselling novelist Lethem is perfectly delivered by Deakins, who uses his bass voice with authority to guide the listener through European palaces, where beautiful people inhabit opulent rooms filled with cut glass and cigar smoke. Deakins's delivery turns empathetic as Bruno learns he has a life-threatening illness that brings him back to the U.S. for a long-shot operation to remove a tumor from behind his face. As Bruno confronts his past and finds his view of life challenged by his fateful diagnosis, Deakins's voice reflects his struggle with a compassionate tone. R.O. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine
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