The Cards of the Gambler
The Cards of the Gambler
by Benedict Kiely
Based on a folk-tale from West Donegal, this is a timeless story of a gambler's soul, and a universal tale of the search for forgiveness, peace and lost innocence.
B-format, paperback | 224pp | ISBN: 978-1-84840-082-5 | Release Date: August 2010
The stage is set for the telling of a story... A Dublin doctor, ruined by alcohol and card-playing, is sent to find a priest to baptise his newborn son. In a seedy lounge bar, he comes across a strange party of men accompanied by a handsome, golden-haired priest who introduces himself as God. Later the same day, in another bar, he meets a vulgar little 'contact man', carrying a briefcase and wearing rings of solid gold, who announces that he is Death. God allows the gambler three requests, two of which enable him to live a prosperous, if somewhat empty, life, and the third of which he can use to cheat Death. Based on a folk-tale from West Donegal, this is a timeless story of a gambler's soul, and a universal tale of the search for forgiveness, peace and lost innocence.
Reviews
“ Benedict Kiely is the Irish Balzac. ”
“A striking talent”
“Broad and subtle humour, considerable terror, satire and a pathos that comes cleanly and sweetly, are all here.”
“An astonishing book...What is uniquely Kiely’s, his thumbprint, is his easy mastery of the lyrical, and the feeling of felt life, felt experience, just beneath the surface of his prose.”
