The Luneburg Variation

Tells the story of a chess duel between to completely opposite individuals--a persecuted Jew and a persecuting German--as it takes place in big international tournaments and in a Nazi death camp

Literature & Fiction

Maurensig, Paolo

Rothschild, Jon

Genre Fiction

Farrar. Straus & Giroux

The strange circumstances surrounding the death of the world chess champion and alleged Nazi collaborator Alexander Alekhine, as investigated by a literary grand master
On the morning of March 24, 1946, the world chess champion Alexander Alekhine―“sadist of the chess world,” renowned for his eccentric behavior as well as the ruthlessness of his playing style―was found dead in his hotel room in Estoril, Portugal. He was fully dressed and wearing an overcoat, slumped back in a chair, in front of a meal, a chessboard just out of reach. The doctor overseeing the autopsy certified that Alekhine died of asphyxiation due to a piece of meat stuck in his larynx and assured the world that there was absolutely no evidence of suicide or foul play. 
Some, of course, have commented that the photos of the corpse look suspiciously theatrical, as though staged. Others have wondered why Alekhine would have sat down to his dinner in a hot room while wearing a heavy overcoat. And what about all these rumors concerning Alekhine’s activities during World War II? Did he really pen a series of articles on the inherent inferiority of Jewish chess players? Can he really be seen in photographs with high-ranking Nazi officials? And as for his own homeland, is it true that the Russians considered him a traitor, as well as a possible threat to the new generation of supposedly superior Soviet chess masters?
With the atmosphere of a thriller, the insight of a poem, and a profound knowledge of the world of chess (“the most violent sport there is,” according to the Russian world champion Garry Kasparov), Paolo Maurensig’s Theory of Shadows leads us through the life and death of Alekhine: not so much trying to figure out whodunit as using the story of one infuriating and unapologetic genius to tease out “that which the novel alone can discover.”

Theory of Shadows: A Novel

Literary

Farrar. Straus and Giroux

The the body of an impeccable businessman from Vienna is discovered in an elaborate garden where topiary shrubs delineate a hidden chessboard behind the hedges. Apparently the death is a suicide without plausible motivation, but as the plot of this passionately colored, coolly controlled thriller unfolds, readers see that its apparently random moves are "variations" on an opening gambit, which can only end in a checkmate that annihilates the possibility of a rematch.

The Luneburg Variation (1998 publication)

Contemporary

Henry_Holt

Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd )

A beautiful, oddly carved violin becomes the link between two generations of musicians, as they move from Hungary during the devastation of World War I, to Vienna and the approaching Anschluss, to a modern-day auction at Christie's in London

Canone Inverso: A Novel

McPhee, Jenny

Henry Holt Co.

At the opening of this amazing fiction, a cadaver is discovered, the body of a wealthy businessman from Vienna, apparently a suicide without plausible motivation. Next to the body is a chessboard made of rags with buttons for pieces whose positions on the board may hold the only clue. As the plot of this passionately colored, coolly controlled thriller unfolds, we meet two chess players--one a clever, persecuted Jew, the other a ruthless, persecuting German--who have faced each other many times before and played for stakes that are nothing less than life itself.

Holt Paperbacks

Paolo Maurensig's first novel, The Lneberg Variation, was hailed worldwide as an immediate classic. Now Canone Inverso-the classic tale of the doppelgänger reimagined-has confirmed Maurensig's reputation as a modern master. In an isolated Austrian music school in the 1930s, two boys, each struggling with the burden of talent and the curse of obsession, become locked in a complex friendship. The key to their bond lies in the secret of a beautiful, strangely carved violin. As their lives unfold through the most violent decades of this century, the two become companions, rivals, and, inevitably, lethal enemies. With Canone Inverso, Paolo Maurensig delivers a powerful metaphysical thriller, culminating in a devastating finale.

Picador

"A Devil Comes to Town is a brilliant form of torture...a huge amount of fun."―Lisa Grgas for The Literary ReviewA small Swiss village full of aspiring writers + The devil in the form of a hot-shot publisher = An international bestseller by the author of the Italian literary sensation The Luneburg Variation
Wild rabies runs rampant through the woods. The foxes are gaining ground, boldly making their way into the village. In Dichtersruhe, an insular yet charming haven stifled by the Swiss mountains, these omens go unnoticed by all but the new parish priest. The residents have other things on their mind: Literature. Everyone’s a writer―the nights are alive with reworked manuscripts. So when the devil turns up in a black car claiming to be a hot-shot publisher, unsatisfied authorial desires are unleashed and the village’s former harmony is shattered. Taut with foreboding and Gothic suspense, Paolo Maurensig gives us a refined and engaging literary parable on narcissism, vainglory, and our inextinguishable thirst for stories.
Paolo Maurensig is one of Italy’s bestselling authors. He debuted in 1993 with The Lüneburg Variation, translated into twenty-five languages, and selling over 2 million copies in Italy. His novels include Canone Inverso, The Guardian of Dreams, and The Archangel of Chess. For his novel Theory of Shadows, published by FSG in the US in January 2018, he won the Bagutta Prize. A Devil Comes to Town is his latest novel and received rave reviews in the European press.

A Devil Comes to Town

Humor & Entertainment

Humor

World Editions

"Italian novelist Maurensig spins an intriguing historical narrative of Indian chess master Malik Mir Sultan Khan (1903-1966)...Maurensig's tragic tale of genius and destiny duly salvages a forgotten hero." âe*Publishers Weekly In 1930s British India, a humble servant learns the art of chaturanga, the ancient Eastern ancestor of chess. His natural talent soon catches the attention of the maharaja, who introduces him to the Western version of the game. Brought to England as the prince's pawn, Malik becomes a chess legend, winning the world championship and humiliating the British colonialists. His skills as a refined strategist eventually drag him into a strange game of warfare with far-reaching consequences. Inspired by the unlikely true story of chess master Malik Mir Sultan Khan, Game of the Gods is a fascinating tale of karma and destiny, by the author of the multimillion-copy bestseller The LÃ¼neburg Variation

Game of the Gods

Puzzles & Games

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Maurensig, Paolo. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Maurensig, Paolo

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Maurensig, Paolo. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Luneburg Variation

Theory of Shadows: A Novel

The Luneburg Variation (1998 publication)

The Luneburg Variation

Canone Inverso: A Novel

The Luneburg Variation

Canone Inverso: A Novel

Theory of Shadows: A Novel

A Devil Comes to Town

Game of the Gods