Trick, paperback/domenico starnone

Sharp, succinct storytelling and breathtaking prose combine in this new novel by the author of the New York Times editors pick, Ties .

Imagine a duel between an elderly man and a mere boy.

The same blood runs through their veins.

One, Daniele Mallarico, is a successful illustrator whose reputation is slowly fading.

The other, Mario, is his four-year-old grandson.

The older combatant has lived for years in solitude, focusing obsessively on his work.

The younger one has been left by his querulous parents with his grandfather for a 72-hour stay.

Shut inside an apartment in Naples that is filled with the ghosts of Mallaricos own childhood, grandfather and grandson match wits, while outside lurks Naples, a wily, violent, and passionate city whose influence is not easily shaken.

Trick is a gripping, wry, brilliantly devised drama, ``an extremely playful literary composition,`` as Jhumpa Lahiri describes it in her introduction, about aging, family, art, and reconciling with ones past.