The Other Hand Clapping: Volume 12

By Marco Vassi

Book Overview

"Larry felt something he hadn't experienced for years--the sharp clutch of jealousy twisting his stomach. In all the years they'd been together, he'd never doubted Eleanor's fidelity in the slightest." In this striking, startling novel, Vassi turns his talent to a tale that blends Zen and jealous passion into a suspenseful, erotically charged thriller. For Larry, he wonders if the evidence of his wife's supposed infidelity is real, or a hallucination produced by his own meditations . . . and inner fears. It all builds to a shattering climax that reexamines the idea of life, death, and sex.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1497640814
• ISBN13: 9781497640818
• Release Date: August 2014
• Publisher: Open Road Media
• Length: 118 Pages
• Weight: 0.36 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A taut masterpiece that balances art, relationships and eros

This slender work is actually mainstream (for Vassi anyway) and deals with a hetero couple who want to recharge their relationship. One is focused on Zen meditation; the other is focused on her acting; they go to a summer retreat to try to deal with these issues and rediscover passion. A brooding/psychological novel full of uncharacteristic restraint, I compare it to Alberto Moravia's masterpiece, Contempt. I've been writing a critical study of Marco Vassi's works and have come to the conclusions that his novels don't equal the quality of his short stories (which tended to have more focus and more emphasis on aesthetics than on plottedness and erotic philosophies). Many of his novels (however talkative and lyrical and engaging) don't seem to go anywhere. However, this one is tightly focused and ultimately one of the most satisfying. It's more about Zen spirituality than eros, but Vassi fans will discern the usual themes here as well. For another Vassi work with similar themes, see Sensual Mirror.