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Gonna Roll the Bones

by Fritz Leiber
ISBN: 0689035918


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A Review of: Gonna Roll the Bones
by Olga Stein

Gonna Roll the Bones, a story based on text from a Hugo Award-winning novella by Fritz Leiber, has been superbly rendered here with pencil on vellum by David Wiesner. The story, a fantastical western, obviously leaves out some important original material, but the reader is given enough to guess that Joe Slattermill, the central character, has some special gift when it comes to rolling bones' (or dice). Since he lives in an old, run down cabin with his wife and mother, we can surmise that he doesn't normally gamble for personal profit, but on this occasion, restless and curious about The Boneyard, the new gambling establishment in Night Town, he decides to take a few dollars and have a night out. Joe's dollar bet quickly turns into a four thousand dollar stash, but instead of leaving with his winnings, self-assured Joe is eager to test his skills at the crap table against a mysterious Big Gambler'. The Big Gambler soon displays an unnatural prowess with bones-which isn't surprising considering what he looks like. I won't divulge the rest of the story. Suffice it to say, it has a few things in common with "The Devil and Daniel Webster". I like the layout of pictures and text, and the yellowish tint of the pages with the edges made to look like they've been singed by fire.
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