[P2R]≡ Libro Jerusalem Poker Edward Whittemore 9781882968237 Books

Jerusalem Poker Edward Whittemore 9781882968237 Books

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Jerusalem Poker Edward Whittemore 9781882968237 Books

My 1st copy(hardcover) was purchased in the 60's and started to fall apart. This is , without a doubt, one of the best book I've ever read. The whole Sinai Tapestry are a must read for anyone. Edward Whittemore is an unsung literature hero of magical realism and characterization. I love his books almost more than any others.


Tags : Jerusalem Poker [Edward Whittemore] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. On the last day of December 1921, three enigmatic men -- Cairo Martyr, a blue-eyed African who controls the Middle East's supply of aphrodisiac mummy dust; O'Sullivan Beare,Edward Whittemore,Jerusalem Poker,Old Earth Books,1882968239,Fantasy - General,History General,FICTION Historical General,Fantasy,Fiction,Fiction - Historical,Fiction Fantasy General,Historical - General,Historical fiction

Jerusalem Poker Edward Whittemore 9781882968237 Books Reviews

I purchased Sinai Tapestry and Jerusalem Poker in the news stand of the St George Hotel subway stop in Brooklyn Heights New York over two decades ago.I loaned them out one too many times, and they were eventually lost. These are two of the most memorable and creative tales I have ever read and I have been attempting to re-acquire the books ever since. I am stunned to see that all of E. Whittemore's books are O. O. P. Whatever happened to such a talented writer? He certainly knows how to spin a tale and imprint it on your psyche. After all the years, I can easily visualize many of the scenes Mr Whittemore put to paper, and can't wait to have copies in hand again.
I woke up this morning thinking of this book, though it must be at least 15 years since I read it. Jerusalem Poker is a wonderful fantasy that brings together an Irish fugative gun-runner, a salesman of mummy dust and a garlic-cruching son of an international banking family in a friendly game of poker, and tells their stories by turn. I suppose the friendliness of the game is as much a fantasy as the rest of the book, which is too bad, but it's nice to indulge such fantasies every now and then.
I am afraid all I can do is reiterate another reviewer's praise and description of this book and its author (and I cannot emphasize enough the following; BTW, thx for describing this book so) "Jerusalem Poker deserves to be in 's top 10 sellers list and the only reason that it languishes, instead, at about 315,940 is that no-one knows about it. I wouldn't know about it either if I hadn't happened upon it in a second hand bookshop in about 1983. I count its discovery as one of the most serendipitous literary finds of my life and I regret that its author, Edward Whittemore, is dead and I can't tell him so." Enough said.
Jerusalem Poker deserves to be in 's top 10 sellers list and the only reason that it languishes, instead, at about 315,940 is that no-one knows about it. I wouldn't know about it either if I hadn't happened upon it in a second hand bookshop in about 1983. I count its discovery as one of the most serendipitous literary finds of my life and I regret that its author, Edward Whittemore, is dead and I can't tell him so.

JP is the second in Whittemore's Middle East quartet but can stand (magnificently) alone. While the first book, Sinai Tapestry, introduces some of the characters who make Jerusalem Poker so memorable, it is less accomplished than JP and might not appeal to a reader who has not already been converted to diehard Whittemorism by first reading Jerusalem Poker.

JP tells the stories of three men, Cairo Martyr, Munk Szondi and O'Sullivan Beare, who fetch up in Jerusalem in the aftermath of the First World War and who, in the dank back room of 3000-year old antiquities dealer, Haj Harun, begin a 12-year poker game in which the fate of Jerusalem itself is at stake.

Whittemore's real main character is the city of Jerusalem itself, faithfully defended throughout all the years of its existence by poor gentle old Haj Harun in his faded yellow cloak and rusty Crusader helmet, usually ignored, often reviled and always befuddled about which of Jerusalem's many attackers he is currently facing.

But Jerusalem and Haj Harun are just two of the beguiling characters conjured by Whittemore's inventive and original mind. Szondi, Martyr and O'Sullivan Beare, and a host of minor players, some weird, some mad, all memorable, career through history, adventure, misadventure, tragedy, love and time to end up somehow entangled in the affairs of the ancient city.

Jerusalem Poker defies synopsis, description or analysis. It is the sort of novel that seizes the reader with the first paragraph and drags them through pages of wonder, humour, pathos and fabulous prose until spitting them out at the end, winded, delighted and doomed to reread it at least several more times.

If you have ever been bemused by the seeming lunacy of Middle Eastern politics, Jerusalem Poker will lead you, sometimes gently, sometimes bloodily and frequently humorously through some of the historical thickets from which the madness arose. Or, if you are the sort of reader who likes to be possessed by a book, to fall in love with its words and cherish its characters and ideas, Jerusalem Poker is the one you've been looking for.
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I first read a borrowed copy of this book a few years ago, and decided that I had to own and reread it. My first experience was of only allowing myself a few pages a day as it was so good that it deserved my undivided attention and was such an incredibly rare treat that I wanted to savor it as long as possible. On second reading, I loved it even more. Whittemore was a genius.
These books are not for everyone by a long shot.. But if you enjoy a book that seems to not fall into any defined genre, and seem a bit "quirky" then you will love this four book series.
My 1st copy(hardcover) was purchased in the 60's and started to fall apart. This is , without a doubt, one of the best book I've ever read. The whole Sinai Tapestry are a must read for anyone. Edward Whittemore is an unsung literature hero of magical realism and characterization. I love his books almost more than any others.