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Compulsive: A Novel
In his usual hard-edged prose, for which he is internationally famous, bestselling novelist Jack Engelhard ( Indecent Proposal ) draws us into the mind of a compulsive gambler in a work stunningly brilliant and original, and seductively readable. Compulsive is a journey through today, with issues as current as the morning paper, brought to the fore by characters as timeless as the Bible. All this processed through a mind addicted to gambling as surely as others are addicted to heroin. A brisk read by one of America’s most accomplished authors... not to be missed. Jack Engelhard, the last of the Hemingways, is a writer without peer and the conscience of us all. About the Author :
Contemporaries have hailed novelist Jack Engelhard as “the last Hemingway” and of being “a writer without peer and the conscience of us all.” The New York Times commended the economy of his prose... “precise, almost clinical language.” His bestselling novel Indecent Proposal made him internationally famous as the foremost chronicler of moral dilemmas and of topics dealing with temptation. Works that followed won him an even greater following, such as Escape From Mount Moriah , his book of memoirs that won awards for writing and for film. Engelhard writes a weekly column for the Washington Times . His www.jackengelhard.com
Contemporaries have hailed novelist Jack Engelhard as “the last Hemingway” and of being “a writer without peer and the conscience of us all.” The New York Times commended the economy of his prose... “precise, almost clinical language.” His bestselling novel Indecent Proposal made him internationally famous as the foremost chronicler of moral dilemmas and of topics dealing with temptation. Works that followed won him an even greater following, such as Escape From Mount Moriah , his book of memoirs that won awards for writing and for film. Engelhard writes a weekly column for the Washington Times . His www.jackengelhard.com
266 pages, Paperback
First published June 3, 2013
7 people want to read
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February 28, 2015
Having read a few of Jack Engelhard's novels I have learned that I need to have time to finish reading the entire book. Once I start reading I am incapable of stopping. His latest work is no exception.
"Compulsive" is a story about a gambler. Though all of us know that "gambling is not a good thing" and that gamblers are addicted people, who will drop everything to test Lady Luck, I could not help but liking Gil Gilels - a lot. Even with his addiction to gambling, Gil is a man of principles, in and outside the casino. Gil articulates what we know about the run of luck, only he says it so much better than we could even think it.
"If the casino was a mirror of life, it was this: You were not supposed to win. If you did, something was wrong."
Gil Gilels also addresses the "4th dimension" of gambling: "I knew people who spoke in numbers." (Indeed, I have met them too; only until I read "Compulsive" I did not know how to express in only seven words what made them remarkable characters, in a good and a bad way.)
Then again, "Compulsive" is about so much more than gambling. As in all of Engelhard's books, his character is highly intelligent and ponders the questions, which inevitably we have to ask ourselves when things aren't going the way we want them to go.
"Can people really forgive or is this strictly God's business? It's the same on punishment..."
Engelhard has the rare talent to pack gambling and religion, philosophy and sports, life's wisdom and superstitions into one book, which feels like looking at different moments we have lived, watched somebody else live, or wondered what it would feel like if could we live these moments. These discussions, which could get boring in a meeting or even at a party, entertain and fascinate, and make the reader yearn for more.
"Compulsive" is a must read for all who like casinos, horses, books, movies, newspapers, and - living in the fast lane.
For those of us, who appreciate erotic reading material, I can recommend chapter 18.
I started this review by saying that I have learned that all of this author's books are too riveting and too suspenseful to put them down, or even to only briefly interrupt. With "Compulsive" Jack Engelhard has reached a new level. The last line will leave you yearning to read it again, right away.
-- Gisela Hausmann, author and blogger
"Compulsive" is a story about a gambler. Though all of us know that "gambling is not a good thing" and that gamblers are addicted people, who will drop everything to test Lady Luck, I could not help but liking Gil Gilels - a lot. Even with his addiction to gambling, Gil is a man of principles, in and outside the casino. Gil articulates what we know about the run of luck, only he says it so much better than we could even think it.
"If the casino was a mirror of life, it was this: You were not supposed to win. If you did, something was wrong."
Gil Gilels also addresses the "4th dimension" of gambling: "I knew people who spoke in numbers." (Indeed, I have met them too; only until I read "Compulsive" I did not know how to express in only seven words what made them remarkable characters, in a good and a bad way.)
Then again, "Compulsive" is about so much more than gambling. As in all of Engelhard's books, his character is highly intelligent and ponders the questions, which inevitably we have to ask ourselves when things aren't going the way we want them to go.
"Can people really forgive or is this strictly God's business? It's the same on punishment..."
Engelhard has the rare talent to pack gambling and religion, philosophy and sports, life's wisdom and superstitions into one book, which feels like looking at different moments we have lived, watched somebody else live, or wondered what it would feel like if could we live these moments. These discussions, which could get boring in a meeting or even at a party, entertain and fascinate, and make the reader yearn for more.
"Compulsive" is a must read for all who like casinos, horses, books, movies, newspapers, and - living in the fast lane.
For those of us, who appreciate erotic reading material, I can recommend chapter 18.
I started this review by saying that I have learned that all of this author's books are too riveting and too suspenseful to put them down, or even to only briefly interrupt. With "Compulsive" Jack Engelhard has reached a new level. The last line will leave you yearning to read it again, right away.
-- Gisela Hausmann, author and blogger
Displaying 1 of 1 review