Jackpot - from SD

Keller, then, is bilingual when it comes to the discourse of emotion: she understands both the language
of bland social accommodations and the language of excessive despair. The former shouts at us like
an alibi, jarring in its cheerfulness. The latter is inarticulate and sulking....It's as if this book were written
both by a Henry James and a Hubert Selby, Jr.: a glittering chronicler of social mores, where exterior
and interior worlds interweave a rich tapestry, and a poete maudit, who savors the most abject and
perverse treasures of the human condition. Bruce Benderson/The Brooklyn Rail (October 2004)

This marvelously engaging and pleasurable novel is like a cross between watching a sly Eric Rohmer film about the spiritual crisis of vacation and reading a Jean Rhys interior
monologue of a woman in extremis. For all its horrific aspects, it has a steady undercurrent
of humor: the comedy derives from showing the precise mechanisms of low self-esteem,
rationalization and self-indulgence. A wickedly readable, psychologically astute and
drolly knowing fiction. Phillip Lopate

Jackpot is a compelling, shocking novel. The story of Maggie, Jackpot's main character,
achieves a Dostoevskian power that unsettles the soul. In Maggie we see
reflected our own humanity, vulnerability, and darkness. Tsipi Keller is a
novelist whose artistry and vision command our admiration. Jaime Manrique

Jackpot is a wonder of a book. It is irresistibly fascinating—painfully fascinating. You may
not feel like sharing the experiences of its misguided heroine, but you should, because you'll
have a livelier time sticking with her than to your own comfortable ways. And you can always
reassure yourself that you'll never end up like Maggie; although—who knows?—some day
you may get the chance. Harry Mathews

This book is addictive, intense—a psychological page-turner that doesn't miss a beat.
An exceptional work of fiction. Jesse Kornbluth/bookreporter.com

Keller travels a delicate emotional line. In Maggie, Keller has captured a quirky,
worthy sensitivity. Jackpot flows to its conclusion with a straight-ahead style that
serves to keep the nerves on edge. Janyce Stefan-Cole, American Book Review, July/August 2005

The problem with novels of degradation is that the depressing nature of the narrative slows
down the reading. If you like the character, then you'll not like seeing the character take a
trip down the big swirly. Keller gets the reader past this with her present-tense prose and
the wealth of understated humor inherent in her perspective on her character. Rick Kleffel (read the rest of the review)

At less than 200 pages, Jackpot would not seem to be a demanding read--but I warn you,
Keller's Maggie has the power to take you along with her. That slender volume is, like
Maggie's planned seven-day vacation, deceptive in the duration of its effect. Pat Cummings (read the rest of the review)

It isn't very long before you realize that Keller has caught you in a deceptive web of shallow
ideals and insanity that in no way resemble the bland Ally McBeal psycho-babble you were
prepared for. As a matter of fact it's closer to the ever-descending rings of hell of Hubert Selby's
Requiem for a Dream. Unlike the intensity of Selby's work, Keller's story has a hypnotic,
seductive quality that pulls the reader further into Maggie's escalating disintegration.
Paul McDonald, Louisville Courier Journal, July 17, 2005 (read the rest of the review)

“She is on a roll, nothing and no one can stop her." By the time this illusory revelation occurs to
Maggie, while she is in a tropical island casino surrounded by gamblers ("They seem to be in a
hurry, oblivious to the small wins, waiting for the long, sharp wail of a jackpot win."), we know she's
just kidding herself. This is gambler's logic, and Maggie is about to wager everything—money
being the least of it—on a single, perilous spin of her life. Talked into going on this holiday by her
glamorous, wealthy, but ultimately callow friend Robin, Maggie abandons her unsatisfying, if safe
and quiet, life quickly and fiercely once she reaches Paradise Island. I guess you could call Jackpot
a beach read's worst nightmare, in the best possible sense: sun, sand, and palm trees cannot begin
to mask the dark corners of this paradise. Robert Gray/Fresh Eyes

Tsipi Keller masterfully presents the story of Maggie, who discovers that
Paradise Island is paradise lost when her traveling companion's betrayal
leads to her own descent into the underworld of greed and illusion. The
glittering casino—island within the island—nearly eradicates the sea. And
water, primordial emblem, is the only substance that can break the spell
of Maggie's emotional and sexual degradation. Jackpot is a deeply
disturbing and haunting novel. Jan Freeman

Jackpot is a daring novel of particular interest.The genius of the narrative is
its vivid and hypnotic prose, which makes the incremental unraveling of the
self seem not just plausible but logical. Unsettling and profound. Jane Delynn

Keller is a skillful writer who is unobtrusive in the practice of her skill. Her observations
are keen and she draws a spare but exact picture of a moral decline and the setting in
which it occurs. Compulsive Reader.com

If you’ve ever been gambling in the Bahamas, thought about gambling in the Bahamas, or
wondered what a Bahamian vacation can do to a single woman—read this. I see this book
as the anti-thesis of Marion Keyes. And we need some of that. Valerie MacEwan

Jackpot is the haunting tale of a woman, so insecure, so toally devoid of any sense of self-worth,
that she is nakedly vulnerable to every slight, real or imagined. Having no inner resources and unable
to connect in a meaningful way with any of the people around her, Maggie, feeling abandoned, embarks
on a path of self-destruction. This is a frightening and cautionary description of a young woman's descent
into near madness as she becomes ever more detached from reality. The reader watches—yes, watches
is the correct word, so compelling is the imagery - in horrified fascination as Maggie spirals downward.
Her inner monologue reveals not only her utter vulnerability, but her pathetic and futile attemps to fill the
empty vessel that is herself, to find in herself some redeeming worth. In the end, she can no longer keep
up the pretense. She knows who and what she is and finally, facing that realization, she summons up the
strength to take control of her fate at last. Elaine Slater

Tsipi Keller was born in Prague, raised in Israel, and has been living in the United
States since 1974. Her short fiction, and her poetry translations, have appeared in
many journals and anthologies; her novels,The Prophet of Tenth Street (1995) and
Leverage (1997) were translated into Hebrew and published by Sifriat Poalim. (Currently,
The Prophet of Tenth Street is being translated into German.) Keller’s translation of Dan
Pagis’s posthumous collection, Last Poems, was published by The Quarterly Review of
Literature (1993), and her translation of Irit Katzir’s posthumous collection, And I Wrote
Poems, was published by Carmel in 2000. Among her awards are: A National Endowment
for the Arts fellowship, two New York Foundation for the Arts grants, and an Armand G.
Erpf award from Columbia University. Her novel, Jackpot, was published by Spuyten Duyvil (2004).