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Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
- Kenneth Mintz, formerly with Bayonne P.L., N.J.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
A likeable story,
By
This review is from: The Music of Chance (Paperback)
So what to say about this novel? The standard Paul Auster writing style is present. And the premise of the book is a good one. A man, running from his problems, comes across a drifter. The drifter promises the man that if he invests in a poker game with him, he'll win his money back. And so, the lonely man decides to invest. The story then takes off from there.So what didn't I like about the book? Hard to say. The characters were well written. The story intriguing. The plot nicely flushed out. I guess what stops me from completely enjoying this novel is that I'm not a big gambler. But having said that, this is a good book. Anyone who reads Paul Auster should do themselves a favour and pick up the novel. Poker player or not.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Book Worth Owning!,
By Joseph Rose (Chatham, MA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Music of Chance (Paperback)
Paul Auster uses a unique, engaging tone in all his novels, a somewhat lyrical prose involving chance, a quiet pace and surreal plot lines, and The Music of Chance is my favorite of all his novels. Jim Nashe is a fireman who suddenly inherits some unexpected money. After buying a new car and going on a road trip, his return sets him about a different path: He had told them he was planning to go back to Massachusetts, but as it happened, he soon found himself traveling in the opposite direction. That was because he missed the ramp to the freeway - a common enough mistake - but instead of driving the extra twenty miles that would have put him back on course, he impulsively went up the next ramp, knowing full well that he had just committed himself to the wrong road. It was a sudden, unpremeditated decision, but in the brief time that elapsed between the two ramps, Nashe understood that there was no difference, that both ramps were finally the same. ..He could go anywhere he wanted, he could do anything he felt like doing, and not a single person in the world would care. As long as he did not turn back, he could just as well have been invisible. And so he is off, driving just to drive. So begins this story, which (if you'll pardon the pun) eventually takes a detour when he runs into a beaten Jack Pozzi, a gambler. The two get involved in a poker game - and at this point, I should mention that the whole book is predicated on much the same beat as poker - it's about chance, challenge, bluffs and risk. The relationship between the two strangers led down an odd path together is original, somewhat disturbing, and incredibly well paced and engaging. Without giving any of the actual plot away, understand that major plot devices center around both the construction of a stone wall, and a mammoth miniature model called the City of the World. Described in the novel, the City of the World "...is more than just a toy,' Flower said, 'it's an artistic vision of mankind. In one way, it's an autobiography, but in another way, it's what you might call a utopia - a place where the past and future come together, where good finally triumphs over evil...It's an imaginary place, but it's also realistic. Evil still exists, but the powers who rule over the city have figured out how to transform that evil back into good. Wisdom reigns here, but the struggle is nevertheless constant, and great vigilance is required of all the citizens - each of whom carries the entire city within himself.'" The Music of Chance is a loopy, incredibly engaging novel that is an absolute joy to read, but try it for yourself. Pick up a copy! Another book I need to recommend -- completely unrelated to Auster, but very much on my mind since I purchased a "used" copy off Amazon is "The Losers' Club: Complete Restored Edition," a funny, highly entertaining little novel I can't stop thinking about.
2.0 out of 5 stars
Much ado about nothing,
By
This review is from: The Music of Chance (Paperback)
The outline: A lost soul spends the first ten percent of this book driving aimlessly across the US. He meets a young gambler with whom he then is forced into indentured servitude after losing at poker to a pair of rich eccentrics. I won't divulge the entirely predictable ending because there would then be no reason for reading the book. Auster explains and connects nothing, not the genesis of his protaganist's aimlessness, not the scenery or atmosphere of his automotive trip, not the what or why of his imprisonment nor the reason or mechanism by which his friend came to the end that he did. His style is pedantic and his reluctance or inability to conclude any theme bespeaks a writer not long remembered.
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