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Go Spotting: Every Man A King

Chris Garlock | Published on 12/18/2023
Go is featured in Walter Mosley’s latest novel.

“Lawrence Gross and Phil Straus spotted Go in the first King Oliver book by Walter Mosley, Down The River Unto The Sea as you reported on 9/11/23,” writes Michael Goerss. “Well, the sequel, Every Man A King, has the main character play Go in two places in the novel, once with his psychopathic friend and once with an underworld kingpin. 

       
“On page 99, Mel had set up a table with a Go board built into it.  The pieces were made from very high-quality jadeite gems, apple green and snow white. 

“Unfortunately,” Goerss continues, “on pp. 100-101, The now-and-then maniac smiled, placed another green jewel in an unexpected square.  So maybe the author doesn’t know the game well?  Reminds me a bit of when Don Winslow in Satori, the sequel to Trevanian’s Shibumi after the author’s death, mentions moving a stone in a game of Go.

“On page 196, the main character wants information from the underworld kingpin and asks if he plays Go: When he pulled out the Go board from a bottom drawer, I knew I’d hit the right note. Made from oak, it was old and battered, with pitted stone disks that had rattled around in their lambskin sack for at least half a century…’I’ll tell you what,’ he said, ‘I’ll discuss your problem between moves.  You have until I defeat you to get what you need.’

Spotted Go? Email us at journal@usgo.org


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