This was 4 short stories; The Accountant, Batorsag and Szerelem, City of Broken Hearts, The Palace Thief. The stories are not connected yet feel like they are because of some common themes; people trying to understand themselves and math. I thought the writing was good and I enjoyed reading these stories. Generally I do not like short story collections. The accountant was a tale of a man who worked hard at his career and was loyal to his company who becomes obsessed with his childhood friend who is the opposite but has made a name for himself. The next story, Batorsag and Szerelem, is a story of two brothers. One is a genius especially of math but he is also very odd. He and his friend have their own private language that they communicate in. The third story is about a man who has been abandoned by his wife and is adrift. He is unable to move on, unable to negotiate dating. The final story is about a boarding school teacher who works in this boarding school for over 50 years. He has some strong ethics about his role as a teacher. ( )

Four unconnected novellas - one was turned into a Kevin Klein film. The writing is good, though a little forced sometimes, as though Canid was urgently trying to create a literary feel. Pared down, and less symbolic, versions would have better suited the goal. ( )

THE PALACE THIEF is the fourth Canin book I've read and it is every bit as good as the others. The four long (about 50 pages each) stories here are like mini-novels with fully fleshed-out characters and well-defined plot lines. I was taken in by all of them. "Accountant" has a sort of Dickensian feel to it, with its fussy, hide-bound, hen-pecked narrator whose career aspirations are never quite realized. "Batorszag and Szerelem," is a family drama told by a younger brother living in the shadow of his genius older sibling, which, in the end, lives up to its mysterious title ("Courage and Love"). A failed marriage and a kind of bass-ackwards father-son relationship, set against a backdrop of a hard-luck Red Sox team, is equally effective - and affecting - in "City of Broken Hearts." But for my money the best of the lot is the title story, narrated by a bachelor educator at St Benedict's, an exclusive private school in Virgina. Spanning over forty years, I was often reminded of TO SERVE THEM ALL MY DAYS, but in a much condensed version, of course. Narrated by Mr. Hundert, the focus is on Sedgewick Bell, a bad apple student from the late forties, who years later, is encountered again, when Bell is running for the U.S. Senate. Unprincipled and dishonest, Bell is a perfect reflection of a certain front-runner in the current presidential campaign.

"It was a year of spite and rancor in our country's politics, and the race ... was less a campaign than a brawl between gladiators. The incumbent was as versed in treachery as Sedgewick Bell ... Bell called him 'a liar when he speaks and a crook when he acts,' and he called Sedgewick Bell worse."

Sound familiar? And there is more of the like. Perhaps U.S. politics have not changed all that much after all, considering Canin wrote these stories more than twenty years ago. Every one of these pieces is an absolute gem. Loved this book. Bravo, Mr. Canin.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER ( )

Four well written stories, insightful and measured and a true pleasure to read. Canin beautifully conveys the hearts and minds of his male protagonists, and he is at his best when describing life choices and their consequences. ( )

I only read the title story, on which the movie, "The Emperor's Club," is based. I had seen the movie a few times, and I discovered that it followed the story quite closely (although it did change the ages of the characters); but unlike the movie, there was no (even limited) form of comeuppance in the end for Sedgewick, and frankly, that's probably appropriate because it's not like Hundert really deserves there to be--he has even less backbone than in the movie. Thought-provoking, but not a particularly enjoyable read. ( )