The Magician and the Fool

March 24, 2008
At the start of Anderson's offbeat thriller, Jeremiah Rosemont, a disgraced art historian who's been backpacking through Central America, accepts an airline ticket to Rome from a man he's never seen before. Later, Rosemont walks through the back door of a Roman hotel and finds himself in a street filled with strange festival-goers and men and women from his own past. Meanwhile in Minnesota, two deadly killers, one of whom was born in the 14th century, pursue a Dumpster diver and tarot reader called Boy King. The plot revolves around an ancient tarot deck, the origins of which, if authenticated by Jeremiah, will change the nature of the arcane \x93science\x94 of divination. Anderson (The Patron Saint of Plagues) doesn't make it easy on the reader, preferring to reveal his swirling, complex story bit by enigmatic bit. Those willing to surrender themselves to this talented author's compelling vision will find a fevered dream universe where understanding in the normal sense is probably not possible, nor even necessary.

April 1, 2008
Jeremiah Rosemont, fleeing the disastrous in-fighting of academia, has been wandering South America for quite some time. At a hostel in Managua, he receives an anonymous summons to Rome and a plane ticket. Curiosity piqued, he takes the flight and enters into the mystery of the worlds oldest tarot deck, reputed to drive its viewers mad. Entwined with Rosemonts story is that of a squatter in Minneapolis called the Boy King, who is running from some unspeakable horror in his past. The Boy King has a certain gift for the tarot, also one for manipulating people. Furthermore, hes pursued by terrible ancient powers. The strange lives of Rosemont and the Boy King provide the main show here, but the bizarre history of the tarot deck, which touches the founding of Rome and the fall of Troy, and the forces nipping at Rosemonts heels make them gel. A clever spin on the antique game of tarot and its esoteric origins.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)