A Gambler's Anatomy

A New York Times Book Review Notable Book of 2016 

“[A Gambler’s Anatomy] . . . is nearly perfect.”
—The New York Daily News

“A thoughtful, first-rate novel, that also happens to be a page-turner.”
—The New York Times Book Review

“An effortless blend of comic hijinks and madcap tragedy. . . . Lethem serves up a punchy, stylish, relentlessly entertaining novel.” —Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

“A Gambler’s Anatomy will lead more than one reader to rummage around in the back of their closet (or local toy store) for a backgammon set . . . mesmerizing, twisty, fearless.”
—San Francisco Chronicle

“Mr. Lethem’s backgammon writing has a satisfying crunch. It’s witty and sexy, too. I’m not sure I’ve ever before read a love scene that begins with a woman crying out, ‘Double me, gammon me’. . . . But this novel quickly bends, like one of Uri Geller’s spoons into stranger territory. . . . It’s a tragicomedy; it plays at its best like a “Twilight Zone” episode filmed by the Coen brothers. . . . Mr. Lethem has a touching sense of the lives of obsessive misfits. They’re his tribe.”
—The New York Times

“In his new novel, he seems to be channeling (and, as usual, transforming) both Thomas Pynchon and Ian Fleming. . . . In short, just another day in Lethemland.” —Chicago Tribune