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The Gimmicks
“ The Gimmicks is a gorgeous epic that astounds with its scope and beauty. With empathy and humor, McCormick unravels the ties between brotherhood and betrayal, love and abandonment, and the fictions we create to live with the pain of the past. This novel will blow you away.” —Brit Bennett, New York Times bestselling author of The Mothers Set in the waning years of the Cold War, a stunning debut novel about a trio of young Armenians that moves from the Soviet Union, across Europe, to Southern California, and at its center, one of the most tragic cataclysms in twentieth-century history—the Armenian Genocide—whose traumatic reverberations will have unexpected consequences on all three lives. This exuberant, wholly original novel begins in Kirovakan, Armenia, in 1971. Ruben Petrosian is a serious, solitary young man who cares about two things: mastering the game of backgammon to beat his archrival, Mina, and studying the history of his ancestors. Ruben grieves the victims of the 1915 Armenian Genocide, a crime still denied by the descendants of its perpetrators, and dreams of vengeance. When his orphaned cousin, Avo, comes to live with his family, Ruben’s life is transformed. Gregarious and physically enormous, with a distinct unibrow that becomes his signature, Avo is instantly beloved. He is everything Ruben is not, yet the two form a bond they swear never to break. But their paths diverge when Ruben vanishes—drafted into an extremist group that will stop at nothing to make Turkey acknowledge the genocide. Unmoored by Ruben’s disappearance, Avo and Mina grow close in his absence. But fate brings the cousins together once more, when Ruben secretly contacts Avo, convincing him to leave Mina and join the extremists—a choice that will dramatically alter the course of their lives. Left to unravel the threads of this story is Terry “Angel Hair” Krill, a veteran of both the US Navy and the funhouse world of professional wrestling, whose life intersects with Avo, Ruben, and Mina’s in surprising and devastating ways. Told through alternating perspectives, The Gimmicks is a masterpiece of storytelling. Chris McCormick brilliantly illuminates the impact of history and injustice on ordinary lives and challenges us to confront the spectacle of violence and the specter of its aftermath.
355 pages, Hardcover
First published January 7, 2020
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2806 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews
January 6, 2020
At the heart of the story is the Armenian Genocide, although we don’t see it happen, the underlying thing that keeps the story moving is fighting for acknowledgement by Turkey who even to this day denies it. I first became aware of the Armenian Genocide after reading Chris Bohjalian’s beautifully written novel The Sandcastle Girls. I wondered then, why I hadn’t know about before. I don’t recall this being taught in school when learning about WWI. Even today, it’s still being not just denied by Turkey, but also the Trump Administration. The Congress voted on resolutions accepting that it did occur by a Democratic House in October, 2019 and a Republican Senate agreed as recently as December, 2019 that what happened was genocide, BUT the Trump administration chose not to call it genocide (surprise, surprise, aligning itself with yet another authoritarian leader.) Here are a couple of short articles which describe it:
https://www.history.com/topics/world-...
https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytim...
This is a story of two brothers, cousins really, but brothers to the core and the girl in their lives . Spanning the ‘70’s and ‘80’s the story of these characters from Kirovakan, Soviet Armenia is a story of love, of family, of betrayal, abandonment, of conviction no matter what. Reuben, small in stature, serious and intense and strong in his belief that he must do every he can to force Turkey to admit the genocide. Avo, giant in stature who tells jokes is not quite as intense, the opposite of Reuben. Yet the two bond in a way the impacts their lives as they time moves from one decade to another and they move around from place to place - Kirovakan, Paris, Los Angeles:
“They were cousins of cousins, really, not brothers at all, but they were seven years old and the distinctions seemed theirs to make. It was as if, in the two years since the. I’m one had arrived to join the smaller one, they had spent all their multivariate powers soldering together their separate histories. Saying brother this, brother that. Making it so.” “Jart. The shattering— that was what Avo’s parents used to call the genocide, and it made sense to him that another shattering was what it would take for the world to acknowledge it, too.” It’s the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia that seeks the revenge to try to bring about this acknowledgment.
Their story is tied together by Mina, Reuben’s backgammon rival and the girl the Avo falls in love with. Yes, backgammon is a part of the story as is wrestling, reflected on the cover and through the interspersed narrative of Avo’s wrestling manager. I won’t say much much about the plot, but will say that it is thought provoking and sad and
worth reading.
I received an advanced copy of this book from Harper through Edelweiss.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-...
https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytim...
This is a story of two brothers, cousins really, but brothers to the core and the girl in their lives . Spanning the ‘70’s and ‘80’s the story of these characters from Kirovakan, Soviet Armenia is a story of love, of family, of betrayal, abandonment, of conviction no matter what. Reuben, small in stature, serious and intense and strong in his belief that he must do every he can to force Turkey to admit the genocide. Avo, giant in stature who tells jokes is not quite as intense, the opposite of Reuben. Yet the two bond in a way the impacts their lives as they time moves from one decade to another and they move around from place to place - Kirovakan, Paris, Los Angeles:
“They were cousins of cousins, really, not brothers at all, but they were seven years old and the distinctions seemed theirs to make. It was as if, in the two years since the. I’m one had arrived to join the smaller one, they had spent all their multivariate powers soldering together their separate histories. Saying brother this, brother that. Making it so.” “Jart. The shattering— that was what Avo’s parents used to call the genocide, and it made sense to him that another shattering was what it would take for the world to acknowledge it, too.” It’s the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia that seeks the revenge to try to bring about this acknowledgment.
Their story is tied together by Mina, Reuben’s backgammon rival and the girl the Avo falls in love with. Yes, backgammon is a part of the story as is wrestling, reflected on the cover and through the interspersed narrative of Avo’s wrestling manager. I won’t say much much about the plot, but will say that it is thought provoking and sad and
worth reading.
I received an advanced copy of this book from Harper through Edelweiss.
February 5, 2020
”Ottoman Turks systematically murdered and disappeared a million and a half Armenians beginning in 1915, destroying monuments and robbing the dead of their estates and their lands, and their descendants continue perfecting the crime of erasure by denying the atrocities ever took place”
I feel a little bit torn in my feelings about this book. On the one hand it was an interesting look at how future generations deal with such a devastating event that to this day has gone unacknowledged.
On the surface it’s a solid story of 3 childhood friends who are all affected by the decision of one of them to become an member of an underground movement seeking justice for the Armenian genocide. Yet I never FELT connected to the characters. Not even Avo, who was clearly written to convey vulnerability.
There is much praise for this book so I suspect it was just not the right book for me at this particular time.
I feel a little bit torn in my feelings about this book. On the one hand it was an interesting look at how future generations deal with such a devastating event that to this day has gone unacknowledged.
On the surface it’s a solid story of 3 childhood friends who are all affected by the decision of one of them to become an member of an underground movement seeking justice for the Armenian genocide. Yet I never FELT connected to the characters. Not even Avo, who was clearly written to convey vulnerability.
There is much praise for this book so I suspect it was just not the right book for me at this particular time.
August 24, 2019
Wow. What a book. It’s unthinkable that there are no reviews for it and I’m the first one. Is no one reading it? It is a tough sell? I mean, the country seems to care about Armenians (provided they are Kardashians) and wrestling pretty much unilaterally, although, to be fair, this novel is as much about wrestling as Kardashians are about being Armenians. But really I’m trying to say that this is a stunning book, a terrific book and I can only hope my review can bring some much deserved attention and readership to it. Spanning two decades and two (or three, depending on how you think of Armenian geopolitical position) continents, the book follows a relationship between two brothers (technically distant cousins) and those around them. Growing up in a small Armenian town, the boys are as different as two boys can be. Avo is a definition of a friendly giant, Ruben is small, nerdy, solemn. Avo wrestes, Ruben wrestles his demons. Avo loves, Ruben obsesses. But they are bonded together despite their differences and so, when Ruben becomes involved in the politics of the region, he inevitably drags Avo along with him. And thus both set off on their own destructive trajectories. Avo ends up in America as a professional wrestler. Ruben ends up in Europe working for Armenian Liberation Front. And then there are also the stories of Avo’s fiancé left behind and Terry, Avo’s wrestling manager. The narrative interweave taking the readers from the early 1970s to 1989, you follow the threads and eventually get the entire tragic story. And if you’re expecting a happy ending, you probably shouldn’t read a book about a country so permanently scarred by a genocide. But endings aside, this book has so much going on. The main thing are probably the characters. Unforgettable distinct fascinating characters. Avo alone would have carried this story ably on his Atlas like shoulders, after all he is the main event here, the Armenian Odysseus, set to travel the world, desperately trying to get back to his one and only love. And Ruben, the sad, weak Ruben, destined to be the second fiddle, alone, tilting at his windmills. And Terry, a wrestler turned manager with ironed blond mane (which seems like a fairly direct rip off of a very famous blonde wrestler named Terry), who seems to be the embodiment of a disillusioned American of a certain generation, desperate to find a form of a substitute for a beloved brother killed in a war. And Mina, Avo’s Penelope, a girl whose own trajectory turns out to be way more traditional than one might have imagined. And all of their stories and all of their gimmicks. The narratives chosen by them and for them. The stories one spins to live inside. Every gimmick, every choice. These characters have an epic quality to them, the novel has an epic quality to it, a certain weight that proper literature carries, a substance, a significance. It’s such a powerhouse of a story. Much like with wrestling, it’s a fictional narrative that nevertheless ,when delivered right, will throw you down. To think that an author that young (born in 1987) can write with such restraint, sophistication and emotional intelligence is just…wow. And his descriptions too are gorgeous, bringing to life places small and large from California to the Southern Caucasus. A completely immersive reading experience. The only possible detractor (or not even a detractor, just a thought, really) is that in this fraught geopolitical times the novel doesn’t really do much to endear immigrants to the world, or at least US. Mainly they are represented as those who can be placed within various preset and prehated stereotypes…people from certain regions are depicted as somewhat backward, very much stuck in their ways, obsessed with (effectively crippled by) the past, fighting unwinnable wars, seeking unattainable legitimacy, willing to risk innocent lives for their cause, etc. Or, alternatively, as immigrants, they are insular, barely making an effort to fit in, learn the language, etc. So not a very flattering picture of a currently loathed contingent of the population in a very turbulent time. But then again, I’m not sure white nationalist and their ilk go around reading novels about other cultures, so it isn’t exactly throwing gasoline on any fires. No one has needed a reason to hate in a very long time, nor have those convictions been amenable to educated opinions and changes…hence…the world today. But all that aside, this was an awesome read, a gorgeous story, a proper literary novel and one of the best books I’ve read in ages (which given how many books I read is a high compliment indeed). Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.
December 14, 2021
“I looked up and saw the orange sun pressing through the gray skim of the sky like a kiss through a shower door.”
March 27, 2020
UPDATED REVIEW
This novel, about 2 weeks after I finished it and wrote the below review, is still on my desk, staring at me. I can't reconcile the story, the elements. I found a piece of paper on which I kept track of a time-line as this one jumps all over the world, and back and forth in time. I have notes like:
In 1983, Mina sees Brow Beater for the last time, before she goes looking for him in 1989. In 1974, a red-head dies. From 1978 to 1980, Terrance J. Krill, ex-pro-wrestler, manages Brow Beater until BB disappears right outside of Greensboro, North Carolina. In 1973, one character kills another and I still am not sure why. Ruben seems to join the bad guys/other guys in Paris in 1974, where Mina meets Hagop and I could never figure out what Hagop was doing. At this book's heart is the Armenian genocide, and I get political gimmicks, but I can't call a genocide a gimmick, really. This is a unique read, but maybe not a good one for a 'pandemic read.'
ORIGINAL REVIEW
Orson Welles' docudrama, "F for Fake", explores the world of gimmicks and Welles has said that "everything in that film was a trick."* Still, "F for Fake" is an amazing exploration of gimmicks, made even trickier via a non-linear story line. McCormick, likewise, tells non-linear stories of Avo, a pro-wrestler and Mina, a master of backgammon along with other characters. And almost every character in this novel shares the pain of the oft-denied Armenian genocide of 1915. There is much going on here and I feel McCormick could have told his stories as a series of shorts as he did in "Desert Boys" and produced a better work. Still, McCormick can produce beautiful prose: "The right name's vital...[it] allows a personality to vessel forth." Thus Avo (as in Bravo) immigrates to America and is successful in the wrestling ring for a short period. And I loved this: "...they laughed and then laughed...and on the floor of the roof in the windswept rain they made interesting shapes." THAT'S the way to write a love scene. Ultimately, though, McCormick and Welles reach different conclusions: Welles says if something is a good fake, then fine. But McCormick differs as he tells us to keep it real and keep the truth alive, as nothing else matters. I very much enjoyed "The Gimmicks". Denying a genocide is a political gimmick for some, Mina rolling the right numbers in backgammon works for her, and Avo at 6 1/2 feet has some moves in the ring which are unbeatable. I look forward to McCormicks' next work: will it be short stories posing as a novel, or perhaps a novel consisting of many short stories, or something else? I have one or two of my own devices to get through the chaos of life and I'm sure you do also. I have to wonder what would happen if you and I used the same gimmick at the same time.
*quote from wikipedia
This novel, about 2 weeks after I finished it and wrote the below review, is still on my desk, staring at me. I can't reconcile the story, the elements. I found a piece of paper on which I kept track of a time-line as this one jumps all over the world, and back and forth in time. I have notes like:
In 1983, Mina sees Brow Beater for the last time, before she goes looking for him in 1989. In 1974, a red-head dies. From 1978 to 1980, Terrance J. Krill, ex-pro-wrestler, manages Brow Beater until BB disappears right outside of Greensboro, North Carolina. In 1973, one character kills another and I still am not sure why. Ruben seems to join the bad guys/other guys in Paris in 1974, where Mina meets Hagop and I could never figure out what Hagop was doing. At this book's heart is the Armenian genocide, and I get political gimmicks, but I can't call a genocide a gimmick, really. This is a unique read, but maybe not a good one for a 'pandemic read.'
ORIGINAL REVIEW
Orson Welles' docudrama, "F for Fake", explores the world of gimmicks and Welles has said that "everything in that film was a trick."* Still, "F for Fake" is an amazing exploration of gimmicks, made even trickier via a non-linear story line. McCormick, likewise, tells non-linear stories of Avo, a pro-wrestler and Mina, a master of backgammon along with other characters. And almost every character in this novel shares the pain of the oft-denied Armenian genocide of 1915. There is much going on here and I feel McCormick could have told his stories as a series of shorts as he did in "Desert Boys" and produced a better work. Still, McCormick can produce beautiful prose: "The right name's vital...[it] allows a personality to vessel forth." Thus Avo (as in Bravo) immigrates to America and is successful in the wrestling ring for a short period. And I loved this: "...they laughed and then laughed...and on the floor of the roof in the windswept rain they made interesting shapes." THAT'S the way to write a love scene. Ultimately, though, McCormick and Welles reach different conclusions: Welles says if something is a good fake, then fine. But McCormick differs as he tells us to keep it real and keep the truth alive, as nothing else matters. I very much enjoyed "The Gimmicks". Denying a genocide is a political gimmick for some, Mina rolling the right numbers in backgammon works for her, and Avo at 6 1/2 feet has some moves in the ring which are unbeatable. I look forward to McCormicks' next work: will it be short stories posing as a novel, or perhaps a novel consisting of many short stories, or something else? I have one or two of my own devices to get through the chaos of life and I'm sure you do also. I have to wonder what would happen if you and I used the same gimmick at the same time.
*quote from wikipedia
January 26, 2021
Look, if you tell me there’s a novel about professional wrestling and the Armenian genocide, I’m going to read it. Not even because wrestling plays a part, this book is just so good. So beautifully written, emotionally rich, and historically substantial. Maybe the metaphor of pro wrestling gimmicks is a bit on the nose for a story about the lies we tell to sell a version of the world we want others to see, but the execution had me floored. This is an all-timer for me.
January 31, 2020
Sad. Funny. Characters you love. Writing so talented I wanted to write down sentences from the book.
March 24, 2022
Took a long time to read but enjoyable. Recommended by my son.
I would recommend it.
I would recommend it.
March 4, 2020
Wrestling with gimmicks. Like writing fiction.
But the pain, underlying both, is real. Armenia is real. Turkey is real. They wrestle with history, pulling it toward, away. Until an earthquake covers those wrestling. That's when writers pick up the history, the stories, the truths, to find out what happened, what happens. There is pain involved for every character in this book. Cousins who can be like, but not be, brothers. Backgammon played, as a game, as something more than a game. Almost Greek with a chorus, with decisions being made from outside, which affect what goes on inside. Theatre is wrestling. Wrestling is theatre.
But the pain, underlying both, is real. Armenia is real. Turkey is real. They wrestle with history, pulling it toward, away. Until an earthquake covers those wrestling. That's when writers pick up the history, the stories, the truths, to find out what happened, what happens. There is pain involved for every character in this book. Cousins who can be like, but not be, brothers. Backgammon played, as a game, as something more than a game. Almost Greek with a chorus, with decisions being made from outside, which affect what goes on inside. Theatre is wrestling. Wrestling is theatre.
January 1, 2020
THE GIMMICKS is a startlingly good, precisely plotted novel about the lasting impact of trauma on generations of Armenians. As a meditation on friendship and love, on the American dream and even pro-wrestling, this gorgeously written novel was a delight to read. Chris McCormick is an immensely talented stylist and THE GIMMICKS reminded me deeply of THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND CLAY.
July 5, 2022
This was super interesting. I bought it because it had pro wrestling in it. And too be honest I do wish it had more of that, as it’s really only a small backdrop to one part of the enormous plot. But even so I’m now so interested in the Armenian genocide and it’s denial, still to this day, that I was reading Wikipedia articles till 2 am after I finished. It really was a great novel.
My one point of criticism is some of the writing seemed awkward at times. I had to re-read some sentences that read a bit awkward throughout and it could have benefited from one more draft perhaps.
Overall this book was fantastic historical fiction. I would recommend to fans of Jess Walter or even Amor Towles.
3.5 rounded up.
My one point of criticism is some of the writing seemed awkward at times. I had to re-read some sentences that read a bit awkward throughout and it could have benefited from one more draft perhaps.
Overall this book was fantastic historical fiction. I would recommend to fans of Jess Walter or even Amor Towles.
3.5 rounded up.
January 7, 2021
This book was a beautiful surprise, because I had my doubts about this one. I judged the book by its cover and questioned how the author could turn a book about pro wrestling, backgammon, radical extremism, genocide (and a touch of cat breeding) into a storyline that worked. Well, McCormick did and he did it quite well.
The book looks at loyalty, revenge and our transgressions as we live out the many iterations (the "gimmicks") of our life.I loved "The Gimmicks" and I'm still carrying Mina, Avo, Ruben, Galust and Angel Hair with me- their lives, their choices, their hurts and betrayals.
"There's no such thing as a new life and an old one...our lives aren't metaphors, halved or broken or split. Our lives are our lives, whole if they feel complete, whole if they feel incomplete." (301)
"
The book looks at loyalty, revenge and our transgressions as we live out the many iterations (the "gimmicks") of our life.I loved "The Gimmicks" and I'm still carrying Mina, Avo, Ruben, Galust and Angel Hair with me- their lives, their choices, their hurts and betrayals.
"There's no such thing as a new life and an old one...our lives aren't metaphors, halved or broken or split. Our lives are our lives, whole if they feel complete, whole if they feel incomplete." (301)
"
March 6, 2021
A rather unique set of characters, combined with a powerful and contentious historical fight, creates a novel full of unexpected twists and turns, much heart ache, and a powerful lament for what-could-have-been on any number of front. If I had one complaint, it would be the storyline involving Terry Krill...which feels like a plot strand that only fits perpendicularly to the rest of the novel.
January 16, 2020
I was not sure I would enjoy this but I was pleasantly surprised how engaged I became. The characters are fully developed and you follow them thru all the ups and downs of their lives. I knew nothing about the frictions with Turkey and Russia so this was interesting aspect of the boik.I would recommend this book.
March 4, 2021
Chris McCormick’s THE GIMMICKS is a moving exploration of identity and reality through the eyes of three Soviet Armenians and a former professional wrestler in the 1970s and ‘80s.
The ghost of the Armenian Genocide looms large over the story, the cultural trauma it inflicted impacting the lives of young Ruben and Avo (cousins of cousins, but more like brothers) and Mina (Avo’s great love and Ruben’s backgammon rival) decades after the fact.
Ruben, small and serious, joins a group carrying out assassination of Turks to avenge the Armenian dead while Avo ends up making a name for himself on the wrestling circuit in America. Mina, abandoned by them both, finds herself shunted into a life of domesticity and missed opportunities.
Interwoven among their three stories is that of Terry “Angel Hair” Krill, Avo’s former wrestling manager, who is searching for his lost protege in 1989 and crossing paths with each member of the trio in unexpected ways.
The novel is beautifully written (the story is told nonlinearly, keeping readers on their toes as to how and when different characters intersect) and imbued with a sense of longing and absence—characters miss what they were, what they could have been, and yearn for what they could yet be. The tenets of wrestling are prominent in the book and bring to the forefront how freeing and how inhibiting it can be to play a role for yourself and for others—in the ring and in life.
This is a brilliant, moving novel, and a primer on generational trauma, loss, betrayal, and love. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
🍷 PAIRS WELL WITH 🍷
Movies/TV: THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO (streaming on Prime Video)
Books: DON’T SKIP OUT ON ME by Willy Vlautin
The ghost of the Armenian Genocide looms large over the story, the cultural trauma it inflicted impacting the lives of young Ruben and Avo (cousins of cousins, but more like brothers) and Mina (Avo’s great love and Ruben’s backgammon rival) decades after the fact.
Ruben, small and serious, joins a group carrying out assassination of Turks to avenge the Armenian dead while Avo ends up making a name for himself on the wrestling circuit in America. Mina, abandoned by them both, finds herself shunted into a life of domesticity and missed opportunities.
Interwoven among their three stories is that of Terry “Angel Hair” Krill, Avo’s former wrestling manager, who is searching for his lost protege in 1989 and crossing paths with each member of the trio in unexpected ways.
The novel is beautifully written (the story is told nonlinearly, keeping readers on their toes as to how and when different characters intersect) and imbued with a sense of longing and absence—characters miss what they were, what they could have been, and yearn for what they could yet be. The tenets of wrestling are prominent in the book and bring to the forefront how freeing and how inhibiting it can be to play a role for yourself and for others—in the ring and in life.
This is a brilliant, moving novel, and a primer on generational trauma, loss, betrayal, and love. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
🍷 PAIRS WELL WITH 🍷
Movies/TV: THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO (streaming on Prime Video)
Books: DON’T SKIP OUT ON ME by Willy Vlautin
July 15, 2020
There is skill and pockets of great feeling throughout but it feels like it was constructed by the i ching, a twenty sided die, and the random article button on wikipedia. "Alright lads, this is gonna be about professional wrestling and backgammon and soviet armenia." Alright, fine, whatever. The pro wrestling parts have very small mistakes that only i care about, but also aren't very much more than a list of historically important midsized regional cities and two characters that pepper their speech with "you understand." The backgammon felt goofy and extraneous, which is probably also how the wrestling feels if you read this already not knowing and liking pro graps. The armenia bits were interesting and are where the strongest invocations of setting and character happen, but also include a strange and, as far as i can tell, fictional terror cohort trying to force recognition of the genocide by kidnapping academics, and the plot gets perplexing and the characters get perplexed. The book lurches between its protagonists like a drunk man looking for his pants in an IKEA, and the end is a 100 piece jigsaw with pieces from four puzzles, totally failing to match and cohere, even though you can jam them into a square if you try.
I really wanted to like this! But it kind of sucks! am sad that it kind of sucks, but i still think the writer is good and can probably do better stuff later!
I really wanted to like this! But it kind of sucks! am sad that it kind of sucks, but i still think the writer is good and can probably do better stuff later!
January 30, 2021
Arvo and Ruben are cousins who first met each other at 15 years old, after the death of Arvo’s parents in a factory fire. Arvo moves in with Ruben’s family, where they live in Kirovakan, Armenia during the USSR occupation, which still bears the scars of the Armenian genocide from WWI. Arvo is the brawn, big and strong while Ruben is the intellectual and talented backgammon player competing against local girl Mina, who is favored by their teacher. Ruben is a nationalist, angry at the Russian occupiers and ruthless, ready to manipulate Arvo into doing whatever Ruben needs to get ahead in life, while remaining insistent about returning glory to Armenia. While Arvo loves Mina (who loves him back), he is constantly pulled between Mina’s love and Ruben’s expectations of Arvo joining him in his quest for glory. I went into this book completely blind to Armenian culture and history. The author does an absolutely brilliant job of interposing historical fact with the fiction of the novel. This novel is incredibly sad but it also examines lives full of choices taken or paths not taken. It was fascinating.
December 8, 2020
I had finished this book nine months ago but wanted to take some time before I could write about it, but then covid broke out. A global pandemic and a regional war later I do not remember much about the book. Hmm, maybe the arm's length critical distance between the author and ASALA, and his attempt to face up to this episode of Armenian history were good. Maybe the emotional content he loaded on the shoulders of the characters just did not cut and was a little over the top at some places. Maybe there were just too many subplots. Maybe the parts of the story taking place Turkey were not good enough to sound natural and convincing to a native of this country. I would like to reread it, I would love to translate it into Turkish and/or see it published in Turkey, but having said these my feeling is not exactly that we have a masterpiece before us.
January 16, 2020
This was an odd read for me. I am a fan of pro wrestling, and I read this pretty quickly (which would indicate some engagement). But as far as takeaways or anything like that, the main thing I liked was the backgammon comparison to life - other than that, I am not sure what to say. It was written well, but the plot was not that engaging
January 27, 2020
This was SO promising for the first maybe third of the novel -- and then it just got SO boring. It tells the story of three Armenians and one American whose lives are interconnected. There's backgammon. Cat breeding. Professional wrestling. Terrorism. It just had too much going on and became a slog.
April 24, 2020
Heartbreaking, original, profound, achingly beautiful, so sad that it's over. One of the best novels I've ever read.
May 5, 2023
Why haven't more people read this?
Beautifully written historical fiction about both the Armenian genocide and professional wrestling in America.
Brilliantly clever.
Beautifully written historical fiction about both the Armenian genocide and professional wrestling in America.
Brilliantly clever.
January 20, 2020
“The Gimmicks is a gorgeous epic that astounds with its scope and beauty. With empathy and humor, McCormick unravels the ties between brotherhood and betrayal, love and abandonment, and the fictions we create to live with the pain of the past. This novel will blow you away.”—Brit Bennett, New York Times bestselling author of The Mothers
Set in the waning years of the Cold War, a stunning debut novel about a trio of young Armenians that moves from the Soviet Union, across Europe, to Southern California, and at its center, one of the most tragic cataclysms in twentieth-century history—the Armenian Genocide—whose traumatic reverberations will have unexpected consequences on all three lives.
This exuberant, wholly original novel begins in Kirovakan, Armenia, in 1971. Ruben Petrosian is a serious, solitary young man who cares about two things: mastering the game of backgammon to beat his archrival, Mina, and studying the history of his ancestors. Ruben grieves the victims of the 1915 Armenian Genocide, a crime still denied by the descendants of its perpetrators, and dreams of vengeance.
When his orphaned cousin, Avo, comes to live with his family, Ruben’s life is transformed. Gregarious and physically enormous, with a distinct unibrow that becomes his signature, Avo is instantly beloved. He is everything Ruben is not, yet the two form a bond they swear never to break.
But their paths diverge when Ruben vanishes—drafted into an extremist group that will stop at nothing to make Turkey acknowledge the genocide. Unmoored by Ruben’s disappearance, Avo and Mina grow close in his absence. But fate brings the cousins together once more, when Ruben secretly contacts Avo, convincing him to leave Mina and join the extremists—a choice that will dramatically alter the course of their lives.
Left to unravel the threads of this story is Terry “Angel Hair” Krill, a veteran of both the US Navy and the funhouse world of professional wrestling, whose life intersects with Avo, Ruben, and Mina’s in surprising and devastating ways.
Told through alternating perspectives, The Gimmicks is a masterpiece of storytelling. Chris McCormick brilliantly illuminates the impact of history and injustice on ordinary lives and challenges us to confront the spectacle of violence and the specter of its aftermath.
Set in the waning years of the Cold War, a stunning debut novel about a trio of young Armenians that moves from the Soviet Union, across Europe, to Southern California, and at its center, one of the most tragic cataclysms in twentieth-century history—the Armenian Genocide—whose traumatic reverberations will have unexpected consequences on all three lives.
This exuberant, wholly original novel begins in Kirovakan, Armenia, in 1971. Ruben Petrosian is a serious, solitary young man who cares about two things: mastering the game of backgammon to beat his archrival, Mina, and studying the history of his ancestors. Ruben grieves the victims of the 1915 Armenian Genocide, a crime still denied by the descendants of its perpetrators, and dreams of vengeance.
When his orphaned cousin, Avo, comes to live with his family, Ruben’s life is transformed. Gregarious and physically enormous, with a distinct unibrow that becomes his signature, Avo is instantly beloved. He is everything Ruben is not, yet the two form a bond they swear never to break.
But their paths diverge when Ruben vanishes—drafted into an extremist group that will stop at nothing to make Turkey acknowledge the genocide. Unmoored by Ruben’s disappearance, Avo and Mina grow close in his absence. But fate brings the cousins together once more, when Ruben secretly contacts Avo, convincing him to leave Mina and join the extremists—a choice that will dramatically alter the course of their lives.
Left to unravel the threads of this story is Terry “Angel Hair” Krill, a veteran of both the US Navy and the funhouse world of professional wrestling, whose life intersects with Avo, Ruben, and Mina’s in surprising and devastating ways.
Told through alternating perspectives, The Gimmicks is a masterpiece of storytelling. Chris McCormick brilliantly illuminates the impact of history and injustice on ordinary lives and challenges us to confront the spectacle of violence and the specter of its aftermath.
March 8, 2020
Imagine you are a writer with a good story to tell. Hmmm, you think ... what style of fiction should I use to tell this story? And you go on to map out the plot and characters. Your Post-Its [tm] and cards soon fill the entire dining room table and take over the spare room, and then the living room as well. Your partner starts to give you the stink eye. But no! you say. This is how I will be able to create a story that alternates between first and third person narratives and also between geographic regions AND between time spans, and still keep my plates spinning until the denouement. The question comes: Why do you want to introduce this degree of complexity? What is the benefit to the story? Does it in fact distract the reader from your tale? You answer: I want to make it at least as difficult to read this story as it was for me to map it out and write the damn thing. The reader must be forced to keep notes just like I had to do. Your partner moves to the kitchen before rolling their eyes.
Is this tendency in modern novels a result of MFA programs urging students to weave acrobatic storytelling techniques into their works? Is it a fashion injected by publishing house editors? Who knows. I only know it feels like a Gimmick itself.
Chris McCormick has created a story filled with memorable characters and events, and ties them together in unexpected ways. His similes are creative and original. He delivers the physical settings to you with just the right amount of detail and sensory elements. He evokes heart-tugging situations and lets you fall in love (along) with the people in the story. But he makes you work for it. If you try to read this quickly, you'll have to go back a couple of intersections in the labyrinth to get your bearings.
Some readers will find this a frustrating process because of the burden placed on the reader. I did, at times, and I'm no stranger to challenging fiction writing. I did love the story, and will recommend this book, especially for the peek into modern Soviet Armenia--a land to which I hold deep ties. And I hope McCormick writes more stories. He's terrifically gifted.
AND, I hope he considers giving the reader a wee break in the future. It will make the experience of reading his work even more enjoyable.
Recommended.
Is this tendency in modern novels a result of MFA programs urging students to weave acrobatic storytelling techniques into their works? Is it a fashion injected by publishing house editors? Who knows. I only know it feels like a Gimmick itself.
Chris McCormick has created a story filled with memorable characters and events, and ties them together in unexpected ways. His similes are creative and original. He delivers the physical settings to you with just the right amount of detail and sensory elements. He evokes heart-tugging situations and lets you fall in love (along) with the people in the story. But he makes you work for it. If you try to read this quickly, you'll have to go back a couple of intersections in the labyrinth to get your bearings.
Some readers will find this a frustrating process because of the burden placed on the reader. I did, at times, and I'm no stranger to challenging fiction writing. I did love the story, and will recommend this book, especially for the peek into modern Soviet Armenia--a land to which I hold deep ties. And I hope McCormick writes more stories. He's terrifically gifted.
AND, I hope he considers giving the reader a wee break in the future. It will make the experience of reading his work even more enjoyable.
Recommended.
May 19, 2024
In this story, we see three main characters: Ruben, Avo, and Terry. The story is set after the Armenian genocide when these characters interlap at some point in time. Avo, a giant man, begins his life with Ruben as a tragedy — his parents died. He and Ruben form a close brotherhood when Ruben suddenly disappears when they are young. We see Avo develop a close relationship with Mina when Avo is invited to America by Ruben by a secret terrorist organization that aims to have Turkey recognize their participation in the Armenian genocide. Avo cannot handle working for said terrorist organization and runs away. He goes through hardships and eventually is caught and hurt by the said organization before returning to Armenia. Ruben joins the organization and eventually gets assigned to track down Avo. Every year he fails, the organization’s leader gets increasingly disappointed and loses trust. Ruben eventually can track him down and get him to the boss, but after, Ruben gets caught by authorities. Terry is in the storyline much later, trying to find Avo, who is now nicknamed as "Brow Beater". His search leads him to Ruben and Mina.
My favorite parts of the story are Mina's relationships with her teacher, Tigran, and later her husband, with whom she has an arranged marriage. I think it’s interesting to see the changes in her life and how her perspective has shifted as she grew older and got married. It’s quite common to identify with; I think many go through similar life shifts.
I had a hard time with this book. The writing style was perhaps the reason I finished it, well, and the fact that it was a book club read for me. I do not think I would recommend the read to the general audience because I struggled to identify connections between the characters besides the close friendships they formed in their childhood. I had trouble understanding when storylines diverged and connected as well. Consequently, things were quite confusing for me. I would not recommend this read to most readers, but I can also see the appeal among others why they would read it.
My favorite parts of the story are Mina's relationships with her teacher, Tigran, and later her husband, with whom she has an arranged marriage. I think it’s interesting to see the changes in her life and how her perspective has shifted as she grew older and got married. It’s quite common to identify with; I think many go through similar life shifts.
I had a hard time with this book. The writing style was perhaps the reason I finished it, well, and the fact that it was a book club read for me. I do not think I would recommend the read to the general audience because I struggled to identify connections between the characters besides the close friendships they formed in their childhood. I had trouble understanding when storylines diverged and connected as well. Consequently, things were quite confusing for me. I would not recommend this read to most readers, but I can also see the appeal among others why they would read it.
Read
July 1, 2021 Fans of professional wrestling will find this book as enjoyable as fans of great fiction. There have been few novels written with wrestling as the plot line, but in THE GIMMICKS, this is done to perfection.
The book was noted as one of the top books of the past year. Chris McCormick has his finger on the pulse of what entertains readers.
The book opens in 1970, but has overtones of the tragic Armenian genocide of 1915. The book features three main characters. They are Ruben Petrosian, whose life revolves around the game of backgammon. His nemesis, or rival is Mina Bagossian, a girl as intent on playing backgammon as Ruben, wanting to show him she is better than him.
The other character is Avo Gregoryan, quite tall for his age, a most imposing figure. He comes to live with Ruben after his parents die in an accident. Avo is like the friendly giant, everyone immediately liking him. It occasionally makes Ruben jealous.
Ruben is more radical, wanting to avenge the earlier genocide, even going under-ground to make this happen. Avo and Ruben separate as Avo and Mina get closer, when the story heads to the 1980’s. Avo is not a wrestler known as the Brow Beater. Ruben remains jealous of Mina, wanting to compete in the backgammon tournament being held in Paris. Ruben keeps his plans for revenge, wrestling with his beliefs, while Avo wrestles with his foes.
Each character is so unique that we care about them all, even if some do not play by logical rules. THE GIMMICK is far from just a gimmick work of fiction. It has so much going for it, right up until the ending.
The book was noted as one of the top books of the past year. Chris McCormick has his finger on the pulse of what entertains readers.
The book opens in 1970, but has overtones of the tragic Armenian genocide of 1915. The book features three main characters. They are Ruben Petrosian, whose life revolves around the game of backgammon. His nemesis, or rival is Mina Bagossian, a girl as intent on playing backgammon as Ruben, wanting to show him she is better than him.
The other character is Avo Gregoryan, quite tall for his age, a most imposing figure. He comes to live with Ruben after his parents die in an accident. Avo is like the friendly giant, everyone immediately liking him. It occasionally makes Ruben jealous.
Ruben is more radical, wanting to avenge the earlier genocide, even going under-ground to make this happen. Avo and Ruben separate as Avo and Mina get closer, when the story heads to the 1980’s. Avo is not a wrestler known as the Brow Beater. Ruben remains jealous of Mina, wanting to compete in the backgammon tournament being held in Paris. Ruben keeps his plans for revenge, wrestling with his beliefs, while Avo wrestles with his foes.
Each character is so unique that we care about them all, even if some do not play by logical rules. THE GIMMICK is far from just a gimmick work of fiction. It has so much going for it, right up until the ending.
October 12, 2025
This is a great book. I hesitated at first to read it because the cover art and some of the promotional materials kept referencing wrestling. This is not Greco-Roman wrestling, nor the sport you see in educational institutions, but rather the professional wrestling touted for entertainment.
Don't misunderstand, wrestling can be entertaining, even as it has morphed and evolved to what it is today. The use of wrestling as a selling point, however, is misleading. Wrestling is only a minor distraction in this extremely well-written novel.
This is a book about life and people. It enlightens and teaches and makes you feel and experience and become lost in the lives of others.
You find that you care about each and every character - good and bad - that you encounter. Encounter is the right word. These are not tokens, nor caricatures, nor types. They all have depth and substance.
There is so much to explore in this excellent work that it could not be covered in a simple review. There is art and sport and gaming and history and relationships. There is struggle and enlightenment and insights.
The title itself is interesting in its own right. While it is related to wrestling on the surface of the text, one finds it applied to backgammon and interpersonal relationships and governmental and international interactions.
In the musical "Gypsy" it is a focal song. It is lived in this book and shows how gimmicks are coping mechanisms and how they impact our communications and emotions.
This is a book of much greater depth than one might believe from the opening lines. There are so many levels that it deserves to be read again and again.
Don't misunderstand, wrestling can be entertaining, even as it has morphed and evolved to what it is today. The use of wrestling as a selling point, however, is misleading. Wrestling is only a minor distraction in this extremely well-written novel.
This is a book about life and people. It enlightens and teaches and makes you feel and experience and become lost in the lives of others.
You find that you care about each and every character - good and bad - that you encounter. Encounter is the right word. These are not tokens, nor caricatures, nor types. They all have depth and substance.
There is so much to explore in this excellent work that it could not be covered in a simple review. There is art and sport and gaming and history and relationships. There is struggle and enlightenment and insights.
The title itself is interesting in its own right. While it is related to wrestling on the surface of the text, one finds it applied to backgammon and interpersonal relationships and governmental and international interactions.
In the musical "Gypsy" it is a focal song. It is lived in this book and shows how gimmicks are coping mechanisms and how they impact our communications and emotions.
This is a book of much greater depth than one might believe from the opening lines. There are so many levels that it deserves to be read again and again.
July 6, 2022
The Gimmicks ends up being a sad novel about how both the big and small tragedies of youth remain fastened to people throughout their lives. The surface plot sounds very bizarre and specific, which in turn could be unappealing. 3 children grow up in Armenia. 2 of them are terrific backgammon players and the other one is so large that he goes into semi-professional wrestling. This synopsis is really just the surface layer over a story that mines great depths about love (romantic and familial) loyalty, honor, and perspective patriotism. What I found sad about the novel was how Avo, Mina, and Ruben all seem to be going through an alternate version of their lives, fully aware that it is not the one they would have chosen. Timing and dark politics can pretty much spoil anything. Additionally, I picked up the theme that loving a country is fine, but the country rarely loves you back. People are the better investment.
Chris McCormick writes well formed characters who are sympathetic and real. I cared for all of them, even through their chosen despair. His narrative is told in pieces and out of chronological order, but it was never hard to follow and actually added a thin layer of suspense that likely would not have been there if told beginning to end. Some moments felt a bit too long or unnecessary. Most of the present day narrative of Terry "Angel Hair" Krill comes to mind. This slowed the reading a bit. However, when the characters, intentions, and thoughtfulness are this well formed, it's hard to complain. A good solid book for sure.
Chris McCormick writes well formed characters who are sympathetic and real. I cared for all of them, even through their chosen despair. His narrative is told in pieces and out of chronological order, but it was never hard to follow and actually added a thin layer of suspense that likely would not have been there if told beginning to end. Some moments felt a bit too long or unnecessary. Most of the present day narrative of Terry "Angel Hair" Krill comes to mind. This slowed the reading a bit. However, when the characters, intentions, and thoughtfulness are this well formed, it's hard to complain. A good solid book for sure.
April 13, 2020
I was surprised how little I knew about the Armenian genocide enacted by Turkey. It was eye opening to learn about the events and the emotional turmoil that persisted for decades. (Possibly still exists if Turkey is still in denial and hasn't formally apologized. I should look that up). Additionally, the damage from an earthquake in 1988 sounds so devastating in a country that was not set up for that natural disaster.
The book shows the after math of these events by way of how three characters grow up in the late 70s through the 80s. The most tragic being Avo, the big hearted and large man who goes on to temporarily join scripted wrestling in the US. His radical "brother" ends up what drags him into precarious situations and sadly determines his fate. Meanwhile, Mina, the lucky love of his life may survive and have the happiest ending but she too suffers through tragedy endured by her people.
It was educational to me and read very well. It plays with time, jumping back and forth telling the story from the beginning while in the future, Avo's ex manager begins an unintentional search for him and finds out more about Avo's past. It's handled well so that we slowly realize what becomes of all the characters without feeling like the trite method of starting with the ending and filling in the how. Instead it is more straightforward an tense as you wait to find out Avo's fate.
The book shows the after math of these events by way of how three characters grow up in the late 70s through the 80s. The most tragic being Avo, the big hearted and large man who goes on to temporarily join scripted wrestling in the US. His radical "brother" ends up what drags him into precarious situations and sadly determines his fate. Meanwhile, Mina, the lucky love of his life may survive and have the happiest ending but she too suffers through tragedy endured by her people.
It was educational to me and read very well. It plays with time, jumping back and forth telling the story from the beginning while in the future, Avo's ex manager begins an unintentional search for him and finds out more about Avo's past. It's handled well so that we slowly realize what becomes of all the characters without feeling like the trite method of starting with the ending and filling in the how. Instead it is more straightforward an tense as you wait to find out Avo's fate.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 3, 2020
I don't know where to start. This is a tale of three people, cousins Avo and Ruben, and their friend/love interest Mina from the 1970s to 1989, It's also a tale of immigrants, wrestling, and backgammon. Most importantly, however, it's the story of how the Armenian genocide has echoed down the years. It starts in the Armenian SSR, where Avo and Ruben conspire for Ruben to replace Mina in a backgammon tournament in Paris, where he joins an Armenian liberation about and disappears into the mist, until he convinces Avo to go to California, where Avo takes advantage of his size and becomes a wrestler. Mina, meanwhile, is left behind by both men. Oh, and McCormick throws in Terry, who is Avo's coach who has his own issues. I liked the shifting voices, which helped to pull some very different strands together. It helps, I think, to have some knowledge not only about Armenia (and certainly the genocide) but also the time frame of the novel but if you don't (and actually even if you do), you might find yourself doing some googling. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. An ambitious novel for fans of literary fiction.
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