Albert Rosegarden is a boy ready and waiting for an adventure to take him away from Mountain View, Idaho (where there are no mountains in view)--and he gets what he wants when Wendell shows up, the grandfather Albert didn't know he had. Wendell is an old ex-con of mixed ancestry who carries a violin case he calls the Stradivarius. Albert's mother and Wendell have been estranged for years, and she orders him to leave immediately. But Albert talks her into letting his grandfather spend the night. Which is the beginning of the adventure Albert yearned for--an adventure that takes him and Wendell and a three-legged dog to Seattle, where they are going to pull off the perfect con--the conning of a con man.
The author's irrepressible and inventive third novel is about love and the passing of wisdom; as Wendell puts it when he and Albert first see Seattle, "This is going to be the most fun you've ever had."
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Michael de Guzman is the author of Melonhead and Beekman's Big Deal. He lives in Seattle, Washington.
From The Bamboozlers
"How is the Stradivarius?" Elly asked.
"As ever," Wendell said. "As always."
"What's a Stradivarius?" Albert asked.
"A very old, very rare violin made by Antonio Stradivari, or one of his sons," Wendell said. "They're works of art."
"Why do you have a Stradivarius if you don't play the violin?" Albert asked. "Why do you carry it around?"
"Tell him what's in the case," Elly said.
"You tell him," Wendell said.
"I don't know," Elly said to Albert. "Nobody knows what's inside. He's never let anybody look."
"How come?" Albert asked.
"Your great-grandfather Enrique was a spear carrier for the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York City, island of Manhattan," Wendell said. "His father was Spanish and Moroccan. His mother was Indonesian and Dutch. Your great-granduncle Eduardo was an artist. I have my Stradivarius."
"Tell him what else his great-grandfather Enrique was," Elly said.
"He was a businessman," Wendell said.
"Like you're an astronaut," Elly said.
"If I ever have to fill out a form," Wendell said, "I'd be inclined to put myself down as an entrepreneur."
"Some entrepreneur," Elly said. "Tell your grandson what you do for a living."
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
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