''A Gambler's Anatomy'' (published as ''The Blot'' in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
) is a 2016 novel by American author
Jonathan Lethem
Jonathan Allen Lethem (; born February 19, 1964) is an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. His first novel, ''Gun, with Occasional Music'', a genre work that mixed elements of science fiction and detective fiction, was publishe ...
. The plot concerns Alexander Bruno, a professional
backgammon
Backgammon is a two-player board game played with counters and dice on tables boards. It is the most widespread Western member of the large family of tables games, whose ancestors date back nearly 5,000 years to the regions of Mesopotamia and Pe ...
player with "psychic tendencies". The novel received mixed reviews and was compared negatively to other novels by Lethem.
Plot
Alexander Bruno is a gambler who encounters a high school friend, Keith Stolarsky, who has made a fortune in real estate. After their meeting, Keith agrees to pay for an expensive surgery Bruno needs to survive, and later becomes Bruno's romantic rival.
Reception
The novel received mixed reviews,
with some praise for the caliber of his writing, and Lethem's ability to combine elements from multiple genres.
[ Dwight Garner referred to Lethem's naming conventions as " Pynchonian" and compared the central antagonist, Keith, to Maurice Conchis, from John Fowles's novel '' The Magus''.]
See also
References
2016 American novels
Doubleday (publisher) books
Novels by Jonathan Lethem
Backgammon
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