Paul Wornham

The Philanthropist's Danse was an engrossing read for me - i read it as a group/book club read - it was quite controversial, and many disliked it, but I really enjoyed it. I will admit, in the middle of the book, I was doubtful - virtually all of the characters are really horrible, and the "Danse" - a process of them all squabbling over the Philanthropist's fortune - was pretty distasteful. That said, I think what made the book so interesting for me was that it really was a psychological study of the characters and the process, which had a bit of a game theory (prisoners' dilemma) kind of feel to it. In the last half of the book, and as various secrets were revealed, I literally couldn't put it down. But it definitely won't be to everyone's taste. For myself, I immediately went off looking for other books by the author, only to discover that this is not just his debut novel, but so far his only work. I hope he writes more...… (mer)