The Rich Part of Life

Starred review from April 16, 2001
A lottery fantasy comes with strings attached for a reclusive history professor in Kokoris's quirky, engaging debut, which begins when widowed academic Theo Pappas hits the jackpot to the tune of $190 million by playing his late wife's favorite numbers. But a quiet life of studying the Civil War in the Chicago suburbs and caring for two young sons has hardly prepared him for instant wealth, and after banking the cash he finds himself fending off an army of scam artists who want a piece of his newfound prosperity. Some of those with a vested interest are family members—most notably Theo's cheesy younger brother, Frank, an erstwhile filmmaker who shows up looking for cash after his latest B-movie fails. Frank is followed by one of his shadier charges, an aging actor named Sylvanius who played a vampire in a daytime soap opera, and family life gets a bit complicated when Sylvanius takes a romantic interest in Theo's aging Aunt Bess, who has made the journey down from Milwaukee. But the biggest shock is the arrival of Theo's wife's first husband, a redneck named Bobby Lee Anderson, who claims to be the biological father of the professor's older son, Teddy, the precocious 12-year-old who narrates the story. The custody battle that follows generates most of the drama in this novel of character, and Kokoris gets considerable mileage from the extensive foibles of his bizarre cast. A subtle sense of humor—as sweet as it is wicked—and winning dialogue keep up the momentum, and Kokoris smartly steers clear of the obvious clichés of newfound wealth inherent in his plot. The result is a winning tale that bodes well for this writer's future. Author tour.