The Cardturner: A Novel about a King, a Queen, and a Joker

I hope I remember everything," said Toni. "You won't," said Trapp. "That's how you learn. But after you make the same mistake one, or two, or five times, you'll eventually get it. And then you'll make new mistakes.

The time you quit learning is the time to quit playing.

The impossible is more believable than the highly improbable.

We may be surrounded by some greater reality, to which we are oblivious. And even if we could somehow perceive it in some entirely new way, it is extremely doubtful we would be able to comprehend what we perceived.

Okay, you were probably taught there are five senses," he said. "We see, hear, touch, smell and taste. But how do we know those are the only five? What are the senses that we don't have? What are we failing to perceive?

An idea doesn't die," said Trapp. "It exists somewhere, in its own dimension, waiting to be perceived.

Life will deal me many different hands, some good, some bad (maybe they've already been dealt), but from here on in, I'll be turning my own cards. —Alton Richard

When I turned the corner, I saw Toni waving at me from the elevator. I think I've already told you how it made me feel to see her smile and wave at me. You can have your sunsets and waterfalls. If a piano were to suddenly fall on my head, that's the image I'd want forever engraved in my mind. —Alton Richard

It's funny how you can go from hating a girl to maybe liking her, maybe liking her a lot, just because she shows a little interest in you.

He gave it all to charity,” said my father. “Diabetes research, I can understand that. But cancer research? He didn’t even have cancer!

the way, when I showed this to Leslie, I used real cards, not a bridge diagram. If you find it difficult to follow the diagrams, try using a real deck. For the first hand, you can also try dealing East the king of spades instead of West, and you will see why the finesse won't work. A finesse is a cool play that allows you to win two tricks with the ace and queen of a suit, even though one of your opponents holds the king. It has a 50 percent chance of success, depending on which one of your opponents holds that king.

Passed away” seemed like an appropriate way of putting it. Over the next few days, I had this recurring image of Trapp sitting at the bridge table. He reaches into the bidding box, removes a pass card, and places it on the table. Then he slowly vanishes.

So, you just told him all his cards?” East asked when we returned. “And he’s going to remember them?” asked West. “You can ask me,” my uncle said. “Despite my lack of eyesight, I can hear and speak.

The urge to communicate is even stronger than the sex drive,” Trapp said. “Why do you think people gossip so much? Why can’t we keep secrets? Why have we invented the printing press, the telephone, the Internet? It’s so ideas can grow and reproduce. Our bodies, our brains, are just machines that ideas use for a while, then toss aside when they wear out.

And I can get my own phone," said Leslie, "with unlimited text messaging!" "And I can get my car fixed," I said. "Or maybe even a new car." "Or a new house that already has a swimming pool," said Leslie. "And a hot tub," I said. "And a game room, and a pool table," said Leslie. "And a giant TV with surround sound, and every kind of video game." And, and, and... That's the trouble with money.

You know what? I’m not going to describe anybody else as elderly. Let’s just say that if you take my age and double it, I would still have been the youngest person in the room, by a lot.

when Trapp was a young man, did he have sex with Annabel King,

Well, it’s very distracting when we have to keep saying every card out loud,” complained East. “I’m sorry my partner’s blindness makes life so difficult for you,” said Gloria.

I once had a teacher who told me I'd be twice as smart if I was half as smart as I thought I was. I'm still trying to figure that one out.

It probably took Leslie longer to type the @ symbol than it would have to type the word at, but that’s the kind of thing she loves to do.

For the record, I never described Lucy as overweight. I simply reported what she said. I have been very careful not to refer to any woman as old and fat.

Lucy hugged my uncle as she gushed about how wonderful it was to see him playing bridge again. Then she got all flustered and apologetic because she had used the word see. “It’s all right, Lucy,” Trapp assured her. “I’m aware you have the ability to see me, even if I can’t see you.

Normally Trapp would just sit back and let the opponents argue, but I think he was offended by her use of the word fixed. She had just called him stupid and lucky. Worse, she blamed his supposedly lucky play on his blindness.