I so wanted to love this book. It had the makings of a unique and interesting story. Sadly, it lost me with the vocabulary used and the vague and often obscure references. I have a vast vocabulary that is often perceived as supercilious, but Jonathan Lethem presented many words I was not familiar with. I found myself stopping often to look up words that were used but that I was unable to derive meaning from the surrounding context. I love words and learning new ones, but not being able to just read through the story became frustrating. In this book you have both backgammon and medical references that will make it a bit more challenging to follow if you aren't well versed in either, but where my frustration with the references came from was in how the whole story came together. I am unhappy to admit that I may not have gleaned the message that was (or was not) meant to be found due to the odd and obscure way the parts were pieced together. I frankly don't understand the transition that occurred at the ending to wrap the story up. It was just odd.
Having said all that, I did still enjoy the story that was told. I just wish it had been more clear and precise throughout the story.

Full Review: wanderinglectiophile.wordpress.com/2017/10/15/review-a-gamblers-anatomy-by-jonathan-lethem/ ( )

Enjoyable but flawed in terms of the pacing, last section of the plot. ( )

Rating: 2.96

A staff pick at the local library, when compared to "Motherless Brooklyn", this is a major disappointment due to a lackluster pace, oddball plot and most importantly, a backgammon gambler.

Alexander Bruno grew up in Berkeley and became best friends with Stolarsky, who like himself was an oddball. As the years pass, Bruno journeys through parts of Europe making a living with his one and only skill; Backgammon. When we first meet him he mentions 'the blot' repeatedly as if it were a pet. In the midst of a losing backgammon battle with a wealthy mark, he comes to realize he's suffering and seeks medical help. Soon after he discovers his 'pet' is caused by an inoperable form of optical nerve cancer.

As luck would have it, Stolarsky surfaces and tells him of a skilled surgeon in Berkeley. Broke, homeless and destitute, he travels back to the states with his friend who promises to fund the costs of the operation as a gesture of 'no strings attached' friendship. But Stolarsky's generosity has an agenda, much as all his business endeavors. After a half day operation that requires his face to be 'removed' to access the tumor, he dons a surgical mask to hide the massive cosmetic surgery stitchings. When released from the hospital, Stolarsky allows him to live in a dingy room in one of the buildings he owns on Shattuck. As he makes his way around the neighborhood, he encounters Zombie Burger, yet another of Stolarksy's businesses and becomes friend with the oddball cook.

The story drags on from here as Bruno becomes friends with Stolarsky's distant wife Tira who for unknown reasons wants to help him. Like a poorly written romance, every chapter becomes drudgery.

I found the story tedious, the characters unimpressive and the 'mask' used to hide Bruno's surgery a bad attempt at Zorro or Batman. Nothing more need be said. ( )

A neat idea, and he drew me in with the backgammon (which I knew nothing about and still know very little about), but I agree with a couple of reviews I read after finishing -- it's not a fully realized book, and it doesn't really wind up going much of anywhere. Definitely on the lower half of the Lethem canon for me. ( )

Listened to this on audio. This is my fourth Lethem novel, and I generally love his stuff. This one was OK, but it firmly cemented my opinion that he writes some really weird stuff.

Alex Bruno is an international backgammon hustler. He finds that over time he's developed a "blot" that blocks his vision and begins to affect his game. It turns out that the blot is a growing tumor. It's going to take some radical surgery to correct it and he finds that a super rich/shady friend from high school is willing to fund it. After surgery, along with the tumor being gone, he finds that his game is gone as well. He has to work at his friend's dive-y burger joint to pay him back. There's a lot more here, not the least of which is Alex's self belief that he is a psychic and that those powers help him with this backgammon skills. Its a very odd tale

7/10

S: 2/1/19 - 2/16/19 (16 Days) ( )