Benjamin's Gift

by Golding, Michael

• ISBN13: 9780446521109
• ISBN10: 0446521108
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-04-01
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Summary

At the age of 71, Jean Pierre Michael Chernovsky has everything a tycoon in 1929 America could possibly want...except a son. Enter Benjamin, a startlingly beautiful orphan with a strange strawberry birth mark blanketing his right cheek. But there's something even more extraordinary about Benjamin - he has a wondrous, but potentially destructive, gift. The father's & son's lives intertwine, blend, & clash in this lilting story filled with unforgettable characters, surprising reversals, & thrilling possibilities.

Table of Contents

The Shape of a Miracle
a pumice moon	1	(10)
the hard wood chair	11	(5)
the Hispano-Suiza	16	(3)
(How He Did It)	19	(83)
A New Home
three days	21	(5)
ghost dance	26	(5)
in lieu of Cointreau and milk	31	(2)
School Days
the state flower of Texas	33	(9)
breakfast in bed	42	(3)
the waters of the Black Sea	45	(2)
up a tree	47	(5)
A Grand Tour
little suitcases	52	(7)
big suitcases	59	(10)
the dance of the bleu cheese	69	(6)
The Ghost of Hamlet's Dad
the scent of cherry tea	75	(5)
Timbuktu to Taiwan	80	(1)
a glass garden	81	(5)
An Affair to Remember
the Velvet Phantom	86	(5)
the Saint of Hooverville	91	(3)
what Jean Pierre Michel saw	94	(1)
machine guns and matzo ball soup	95	(7)
Chernovsky's Total History of the World	102	(72)
The Tenor's Daughter
Cupid's prize	108	(5)
Burnt Roses	113	(4)
Blue Mama's Suicide Wail	117	(7)
Repercussions
going	124	(1)
going	125	(1)
gone	126	(3)
The Family Guildenstern
advice of a young hog	129	(6)
a new life	135	(3)
a doppelganger	138	(5)
An Upside-Down World
flying eggs	143	(4)
the splendor of a good pot roast	147	(5)
a trick of memory	152	(2)
The Calculator	154	(3)
The Shadow of an Eclipse
a feast of flesh and reason	157	(5)
deadly daffodils	162	(4)
strawberries and Little Sidney Lownethal	166	(8)
(How He Did It This Time)	174	(13)
Ghosts
Purim in January	176	(3)
sand	179	(1)
smoke	180	(4)
what was hidden inside the breath-mint tin	184	(3)
Whoopee	187	(97)
A Farewell to Clam Sauce
Brenda Ribenski's announcements	189	(2)
Spiros Creopolis and the girls of Flo's	191	(2)
clown dreams	193	(1)
slings and arrows	194	(3)
The Power of Bop
the Sister's strange hand gesture	197	(2)
a sea change	199	(5)
Strawberry Delight	204	(6)
Snow Falling Up
shadows in the desert	210	(4)
a tropical period	214	(2)
interactions among nuclei	216	(2)
the Book of Genesis	218	(6)
The Black-and-White Blues
the smudged fingerprint	224	(5)
postcards from Petrie	229	(1)
high stakes	230	(5)
Home Before Midnight
like a stone on water	235	(5)
like a pat of butter on a piece of peach pie	240	(4)
unlike Alice	244	(1)
snow on the screen	245	(6)
Time Folds
an unforeseen hurricane	251	(6)
welcoming back the spring	257	(4)
Lazy Chernovsky's	261	(2)
Time Retracts
faded totems	263	(2)
blueberry cheesecake	265	(4)
the One Who Is the Sky	269	(3)
The Theater of the Gods
Thanatos and Eros	272	(3)
Jean Pierre Michel's drool	275	(2)
a divine jump start	277	(7)
The Spirit in the Machine (How He Did It the Last Time)	284	(3)
The Odds Is Gone	287	(6)
Time Flies	293