October Readathon - Update #2 - The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman

The Fingertips of Duncan DorfmanThe Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman by Meg Wolitzer. Dutton. 16.99. 9780525423041

Duncan Dorfman just discovered the coolest thing about himself.  But he promised his mom he wouldn't tell anyone. But, circumstances have forced his hand. His fingertips, I mean. Of his left hand, precisely.  You see, Duncan can read with his fingers.  I mean, really, even with his eyes closed.  And it could be his way out of obscurity.  So he agrees to cheat at the annual Youth Scrabble Tournament in Yakamee, Florida. 

And that is just the beginning of Duncan's slippery slope down into the bowels of evil. Or at least into more and more lies.

Meg Wolitzer's writing is solid and keeps you reading about Duncan and the other scrabble geeks in the book.Wolitzer wends a LOT of Scrabble rules into the story but using all caps gives you a chance to skip it if necessary.  Some of the information is fascinating and I found myself wanting to start a Scrabble club at school.  But, in the end, the story proves to be predictable and almost everything wraps up neat and sweet.  The only loose end is why Duncan has this talent or where he got it from. Maybe there are plans for a second book.

While I enjoyed The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman, I didn't find it nearly as compelling as The Cardturner by Louis Sachar.  The Cardturner is about another unlikely subject, bridge, but Sachar's writing elevates the story and makes you care about the characters while Wolitzer's are bare and unknown.

Update:

Title of book(s) read since last update:

The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman by Meg Wolitzer

Number of books read since you started:

1
Pages read since last update:
158 plus 30 min of audio

Running total of pages read since you started:

362p plus 30 min audio

Amount of time spent reading since last update:

2hr 10m
Running total of time spent reading since you started:
 4hr 10 min

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