The Magician and the Fool

Anderson is an absolute wizard of language, story, and tarot. He throws down words like cards, and the resulting patterns are rich and tantalizing in what they reveal and what they refuse to show. This is a gorgeous book.

it's not easy to find books this well-written, smart, and compelling. i found it addictive. i was so engrossed i wanted to call in sick, turn off the phone, and stay up all night. i didn't want to to do anything except keep reading. and then, when it was over and i emerged from my trance, i wished i had savored it and made it last longer. the story is mysterious and multi-layered, fast-paced and exciting. it grabs you by the throat from the get-go and doesn't let go, well, ever. it sticks with you long after the last page. it's the kind of book that you *want* to read again right away. partly because it's hard to leave this world and these characters behind; but also because it's such a page-turner, you get swept up in the action and it can be hard to s-l-o-w down to process information or look for clues, even though you sense there are many more layers there to explore. but that's okay, because the second reading is even more rewarding than the first. it's true that anderson doesn't spell it out for his readers, but all the pieces are there and it's fun to turn them over and fit them together. he does not insult your intelligence but instead weaves it all together in an elaborate tapestry that makes closer scrutiny enjoyable and rewarding. if offers the sweetest kind of reading pleasure -- a world where you can happily lose yourself, a story that won't let you go, and mysteries that your mind keeps turning over and over like a toy. it's like catnip for your mind.

Anderson has taken us through the mirror and shown us that looking at our own reflections isn't as simple as gazing at an image in a pane of glass. Crafted with a prodigious knowledge of the history and workings of the tarot, The Magician and the Fool opens the doorway to a world where time folds around us, tracing the path of a secret and powerful group of people as they each search for something they've lost. Throughout it's pages, Magician reveals with painstakingly detail that the world is not a simple, predictable place, and that we often know less about the people standing beside us--and ourselves--than we would like to think. The Magician and the Fool is a thought-provoking, unsettling, and deeply philosophical story that follows art historian and tarot scholar Jeremiah Rosemont, who is searching, he believes, for a long-lost set of tarot cards rumored to have been rediscovered. Through a tale as unpredictable and mind-bending as interpreting a tarot spread itself, Anderson shows us that the process of self discovery is every bit as much a journey as hitchhiking through Central America--and often, far more dangerous.

This book is an alternate history of the Tarot, but it is so much more. It's a beautiful, gritty, and real image of life in the mundane world when you deny a huge part of who you are. It's smart and funny and sad and the ending . . . well, I'll just say this: at the end, I wasn't even sure who was who. But it was so well-written and heartrending and bizarre and gorgeous that I didn't give a damn. WONDERFUL book. If you like books that make you think and make you feel and blow your mind, this is IT.

Just finished this and loved it, from beginning to end. Gorgeous prose, a ripping good story, delicious historical arcana about tarot, ancient Rome, and Etruscan mythology. I found myself captivated--by the narrative itself, as well as by the erudite research threaded throughout. A wonderful novel, just the right length to while away a couple of weekend nights. Anderson's got all the chops you could want from a literary writer, with the smart pacing and otherworldly dash of Dan Brown at his best. Highly, highly recommended.