Vintage Contemporaries: A Gambler's Anatomy : A Novel (Paperback)

9781101873670. New condition. Trade paperback. Language: English. Pages: 304. Trade paperback (US). 304 p. Vintage Contemporaries. Alexander Bruno travels the world playing high stakes backgammon and hunting for amateur "whales" who think they can challenge him. Lately he's had a run of bad luck, not helped by the blot that has emerged in his field of vision, forcing him to look at the board sideways. As the blot grows larger, his game worsens, until he passes out in the middle of a match and receives an alarming diagnosis. Out of money and out of friends, he turns to the only person who can help and the last person he wants to see: a high-rolling former childhood acquaintance who agrees to pay for Bruno's experimental surgery in Berkeley. But Berkeley is the place where Bruno discovered his psychic gift and where he vowed never to return. There, forced to confront patchouli flashbacks and his uncertain future, 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?