cover image Mournful Numbers

Mournful Numbers

Frank R. Goldstein. E. M. Press, $15.95 (127pp) ISBN 978-1-880664-08-7

A Washington, D.C., real-estate executive comes under the spell of a motivational guru in this brisk, compelling debut. Falling for Leon Davis's glib routine of forceful-sounding platitudes and take-charge techniques (``Your life will work. It will be an epic''), corporate v-p Richard Graham recklessly overhauls his life: he has an extramarital affair with a sexy coworker, buys a Mercedes (which promptly gets carjacked), smacks his unruly young son in the face and clashes with rival executives eager to oust him during the firm's merger. How Graham, unaware of his own arrogance and naivete, loses his wife and his job, and nearly his identity, is the theme of this subtle yet devastating study of psychological manipulation and blind faith. Though Goldstein undermines his narrative with insufficiently developed characters (Graham's mistress and discontented wife are generic) and perfunctory explorations of yoga and zen, he writes with an uncanny eye for the pressures, role-playing and turf wars of corporate life. (Apr.)