Bob the Gambler

Starred review from September 29, 1997
Clear-sighted, decent Ray Kaiser narrates his sudden capitulation to the allure of Biloxi's Paradise Casino in Barthelme's (Moon Deluxe; Painted Desert) deftly comic and gently melancholic 11th book. Abandoning his unremunerative architecture firm (running Ray Kaiser Design "is kind of like being a pro bongo player"), he becomes intoxicated by the rituals and the heady promises of big payoffs at the blackjack tables and the slot machines: "It was a joy to see the money move at a sedate pace back and forth the table, as if it had a life of its own, or was reacting to my will, or the dealer's, or even the magic in the cards." His thoroughgoing investment in the casino prompts him to reevaluate everything--looking askance at the architecture profession even as he takes jobs "a little south on the food chain.'' With bracing good humor and moral nuance, the novel makes this familiar tale fresh again: Ray is as much a husband and father as he is (in his stepdaughter's sardonic parlance) "Bob the Gambler." His relationships with her, his parents and his wife, Jewel, are beguiling and carefully delineated. The unpredictable and morally ambiguous outcome of the tug-of-war between these relationships and the casino distinguish this rueful comedy, in which the narration is pitch-perfect and the plot is clever, surprising and vibrant with immediacy. Author tour.

June 15, 1997
In the latest from the stylistically distinctive Barthelme, middle-aged Ray and Jewel Kaiser enter Paradise--a casino in run-down Biloxi, Mississippi.

Starred review from September 1, 1997
Barthelme's new novel, a sophisticated yet down-home family drama, gets off to a swift start and never loses momentum, quite a narrative feat given its extremely modest parameters. Not only is Barthelme an impeccable stylist, his crackling dialogue is hilarious, and most of the novel's action takes the form of banter between Ray; his wife, Jewel; her teenage daughter, RV; and Ray's mother. Ray's architectural practice dried up just as shabby old Biloxi opened its first floating casinos, so he and Jewel had been conducting a bit of a boycott, but decide, finally, to find out what all the fuss is about. They are instantly hooked, and each loses piles of money until Ray has the gambling equivalent of an overdose after his father's sudden death and utterly shatters their finances. Does this catastrophe result in anger, recrimination, divorce? No, because in Barthelme's keenly realized fictional universe, love and the gift of simply being alive are treasured above all else, and nothing is predictable except his abiding if bemused affection for humanity and keen insights into American craziness. Barthelme is wholly original, but fans of Richard Bausch will enjoy him and vice versa. ((Reviewed Sept. 1, 1997))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1997, American Library Association.)