Book cover of Celestial Chess

Book description

American scholar and lettered medievalist, David Fairchild, swings a plum sabbatical at Cambridge University, where he is given full access to a rare manuscript written by a mad monk of shameful repute—Geoffrey Gervaise. The Westchurch Manuscript has lain neglected in the University vaults for centuries . . . or has…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Celestial Chess as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

When I read the novel, I was amazed because it was difficult for me to get my head around the idea that the tale was virtually perfect and that it was created by a mere human being.

The story follows David Fairchild, a young antiquary studying ancient manuscripts at Cambridge. Central to the novel is the obscure Cambridge library, where the mysterious Westchurch manuscripts are preserved and sequestered away from the world at large.

I found this book both wildly entertaining and wildly thought-provoking about the mechanics of the universe, the persistence of spirits, and the drama inherent in cosmic…

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December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

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