A New York Times top 100 Notable Book of the Year Alexander Bruno is a man with expensive problems Sporting a tuxedo & trotting the globe he has spent his adult life as a professional gambler His particular line of work backgammon at which he extracts large sums of money from men who think they can challenge his peerless acumen In Singapore his luck turned Maybe it had something to do with the Blot
- a black spot which has emerged to distort Bruno's vision It's not showing any signs of going away As Bruno extends his losing streak in Berlin it becomes clinically clear that the Blot is the symptom of something terrible There's a surgeon who can help but surgery is going to involve a lot of money & worse returning home to the garish hash-smoke streets of Berkeley California Here the unseemly Keith Stolarsky
- a childhood friend in possession of an empire of themed burger bars & thrift stores
- is king & he's willing to help Bruno out But there was always going to be a price