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When Alice is found dead in their New York flat, evidence of foul play is investigated by two men with their own chequered romantic stories. There is Ward Hastroll, a detective who occasionally dreams of pillow-smothering his bedridden wife. (“Is this, he wondered, what it means to grow old together?”) Then there is Sam Sheppard, a character based on a doctor who was famously convicted in the 1950s for killing his wife. These men long for their freedom, but also yearn for what brought them together with their wives in the first place. Other characters include sundry mistresses and a weaselly killer-for-hire named Möbius. Mr Ross jumbles their stories together, coaxing meaning from the mix-and-match.
“Mr Peanut” is full of tricks: shifting narrations, quirky chronology and meta-novels within novels. The effect is disorienting, but the characters are too well drawn to feel like pawns in some game. The result is a deliciously clever book, full of dark insight and even a touch of hope. Mr Ross dedicates the book to his wife, after all.

A. 어휘
flat 아파트(영국). foul play 배신행위, 부정행위.
chequered 변화가 많은. detective 형사. pillow-smothering 베개로 질식시키다.
bedridden 누워만 있는. convict 유죄선고하다.
long for 渴望(갈망)하다. yearn for 憧憬(동경)하다.
characters 등장인물. sundry 雜多(잡다)한. weaselly 족제비 같은, 교활한.
killer-for-hire 살인청부업자. jumbles 뒤섞다, 잡동사니.
coax 꾀어내다, 甘言利說(감언이설)로 빼앗다.
mix-and-match 잡다한 것들을 짝 맞추어 만드는 것.
quirky 奇癖(기벽)의, 急轉(급전)하는, 기이한.
chronology 연대의 전후관계, 年代記(연대기).
disorienting 방향을 상실하게 하는, 어리둥절한.
well drawn 잘 그려진. pawns 서양장기의 卒(졸), 담보물, 저당물, 인질.
deliciously 맛이 있는, 즐겁게. insight 통찰.
dedicates 바치다, 헌신하다.