The Blot

by Jonathan Lethem

  It was reason enough to be content that Edgar Falk had settled here in Singapore, at Sentosa Cove: the birds. The giant cormorants—one, at least, always seemed to be waiting there. His shorebird, the only animal that followed him everywhere he went in the world, beginning at Stinson Beach. He could rename himself after the bird, even. Alexander B. Cormorant.

  Or he might accept his name at present—the Mummy. Hoary, but conveying a kind of legacy.

  In practice, he was a surgeon, delving through faces to what lay underneath, to look out through the eyes. There, to learn the only important thing about most men: what cards they held. He might even call himself Noah Behringer, for amusement’s sake. He wondered if Edgar Falk would recognize that name, or whether it would be lost on him …

  Flashman, Nooseman, Anonymous, Abide.

  Ich bin ein Vegetarierin.

  We’re all Unknown Tragics on this bus.

  Or a Vietnam vet, employed as a hydrotherapy attendant at Alta Bates, and looking on as a helpless white kid spunked up a whirlpool, mess you’d be obliged to clean up, damn. If he quested back he might even retrieve the man’s name …

  Anyone, anyone, but “Alexander Bruno”—words for one who no longer existed.

  Thanks

  Dr. Adam Duhan

  Dr. Michael Blumlein

  Dr. Marie Warburg

  Dr. Laurence Rickels

  Dr. Atul Gawande

  Dr. Michael Zöllner

  Dr. Chris Offutt

  Dr. Amy Barrett

  This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

  Epub ISBN: 9781473523005

  Version 1.0

  1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

  VINTAGE

  20 Vauxhall Bridge Road,

  London SW1V 2SA

  Vintage is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com.

  Copyright © Jonathan Lethem 2017

  Cover © Jon Gray

  Jonathan Lethem has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this Work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

  First published in the United States with the title A Gambler’s Anatomy: A Novel by

  Doubleday, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York, in 2016

  First published in the United Kingdom by Jonathan Cape in 2017

  penguin.co.uk/vintage

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library