A family of magicians and the CIA - A Review of Spoonbenders

Book cover of Spoonbenders by Daryl Gregory

Introduction

This is Daryl Gregory’s seventh novel. It was a Nebula Award finalist, as well as a World Fantasy Award finalist, Locus Award finalist, and was named one of NPR’s best books of 2018. It was published by Vintage in 2018.

Summary of Spoonbenders

The books concept is a fascinating one: what if some magicians actually had powers that they claim in stage shows: clairvoyance, telekinesis, and so on? And what if the government wanted to use them for covert spying and other intelligence tasks?

Enter the The Amazing Telemachus Family, three-generations of performers. Most of the family members are just good at the typical misdirection and skills of stage magicians, but a few actually possess psychic abilities. The family falls from grace when the mother and son do not perform, and another performer reveals them as frauds.

The story begins when the grandson of the patriarch, Matty, finds he can experience astral projection. He has a crush on his cousin, Malice (Mary Alice), and, as a teen, is brought to life as a fully formed character who is easy to identify with. Matty wants to know more about his family’s past, and as he unravels the story, Gregory does not just leave us in Matty’s head. We get to follow his strange and silent brother, who is never sure whether he is living the present or the future.

We jump back in time to his grandparents, Teddy and Maureen, learning that Teddy is a fraud but Maureen was one of the most powerful psychics who ever lived. We jump to other members of he family, unraveling an engaging, quirky, and humor story that involves the CIA, the mafia, and other nefarious and not-so-nefarious characters. E

ach family member has a different view of their past, talents, and each other—not always in line. But when crisis comes, came they all come together once more? All the while, the strange and quiet brother, Buddy, is busy with some project involving saws, metal, tiles, tearing out walls, and digging in the backyard.

Review

I was not too sure about this book until 50 to 75 pages in, and then I was hooked. The premise is fascinating, the characters are peculiar and perhaps zany, and yet sympathetic. Some of the minor characters are a bit flat—the cruel Italian mobsters come to mind—but it some ways, they fit the almost cartoonish nature of the story. Yet it is far more realistic that a cartoon, though not as earth-bending as a superhero tale.

Spoonbenders Recommendation

The underlying theme of love and family in the midst of dysfunction and internal and external strife is a good one, and well-done. For those reasons, it can be an unforgettable book, because most of us (all of us?) have felt like outcasts and/or failures at least sometime in our lives. If you like unusual plots and settings with serious themes (but a lot of humor as well), you may well enjoy this as much as I did.