The Game for Real

Called 'The Man of Pain' by the sci-fi author Karel Capek (who popularized the word 'robot'), Richard Weiner is one of European literature's best-kept secrets. The Game for Real marks the long overdue arrival of his dreamlike, anxiety-ridden fiction into English. Opening with The Game of Quartering, an unnamed hero discovers his double. Surely, he reasons, if he has a double, then his double must also have a double too, and so on... What follows is a grotesquely hilarious, snowballing spree through Paris, where actual landmarks disintegrate into theaters, puppet shows, and, ultimately, a funeral. Following this, The Game for the Honor of Payback neatly inverts things: instead of a branching, expanding adventure, a man known as 'Shame' embarks on a quest that collapses inward. Slapped by someone he despises, he launches a doomed crusade to return the insult. As the stakes grow ever higher, it seems that Shame will stop at nothing - even if he discovers he's chasing his own tail. Blending metaphysical questions with farcical humor, bizarre twists, and acute psychology, The Game for Real is a riveting exploration of who we are - and why we can't be so sure we know.