Monday, January 29, 2018

Theory of Shadows

Theory of Shadows: a Novel / Paolo Maurensig, 179 p.

An exploration of the very real life of Russian chess master Alexandre Alekhine, who died under exceedingly mysterious circumstances in Portugal in 1946.  Alekhine, who survived the war by playing chess on behalf of the Reich and cozying up to high-ranking Nazis, was found dead in his hotel room, seated before a chess board,  cause of death unclear.  The author uses the form of the novel hoping that fiction will lead him to uncover truths that research does not.  The result is an interesting, creepy story about a brilliant but horribly flawed man. 

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