Who is the author?
Chris McCormick is the author of a novel, The Gimmicks (Harper, 2020), and a short story collection, Desert Boys, winner of the 2017 Stonewall Book Award—Barbara Gittings Literature Award. His essays and stories have appeared in The Atlantic, The Los Angeles Times, Tin House, and Ploughshares. He grew up on the California side of the Mojave Desert before earning his BA from the University of California, Berkeley, and his MFA from the University of Michigan. He is an Assistant Professor in the creative writing program at Minnesota State University, Mankato, and is at work on his next novel.
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The Gimmicks by Chris McCormick By Tatiana der Avedissian
After sitting on the tower of books that I had piled up since the first lockdown, I finally found the time this Christmas to read The Gimmicks, a book I had been meaning to read since the summer. Since the pandemic started, I have found my ability to concentrate on a book limited against the backdrop of never-ending work and errands - a phenomenon that seems to plague a few of my friends, who like me, are avid readers. Well until Christmas, when I finally got some downtime and took The Gimmicks with me to Cyprus, reading it in just four days.
I was really struck by it not because I am Armenian, but because I was not expecting it to be such a captivating novel about certain periods in contemporary Armenian history that I must admit I have never been too familiar with, namely the ASALA movement, a Marxist militant organisation that took upon itself extreme measures to bring about the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Up until recently, I had no idea who Monte Melkonian was either, and for those of you as unfamiliar with him as I was, he was an American-Armenian revolutionary and nationalist militant whose nickname was Avo, like one of the title characters of the book.
McCormick's book tells the tale of two cousins whose lives change drastically after becoming involved with the ASALA movement. Avo is the wrestler. He is strong and muscular with a distinct monobrow compared to Ruben, the backgammon player, who is a smaller-framed man with an indistinct appearance except for his glasses. Avo moves in with Ruben's family after the passing of his parents, and despite their differences, they become close enough to consider each other brothers, but all that changes when Mina and Avo fall for each other. Mina is Ruben's backgammon rival, whom he deems to have more luck than skill at the game, blaming her for stealing his opportunity to be chosen by their teacher Tigran to compete in the Paris backgammon tournament. Secretly in love with her, all goes awry once the two brothers fall for the same girl, all unbeknown to Avo.
The use of games and sport in the novel to symbolise the journeys each of the title characters take is not missed by the reader. Ruben's life resembles a backgammon tournament with many quick wins, but over time, it becomes clear that just like the game, skills are as important as luck to succeed in life. Ruben is drawn into a world, a dark part of Armenian history, to prove his value elsewhere and drags his loyal brother with him. Meanwhile, Avo's love for wrestling manifests into a reality when he finds himself conflicted about whether his love for Mina or his desire to please his 'brother' is more important.
I could not decide whether this is a love story set against the backdrop of Soviet Armenia and the Genocide that took place a little over 60 years prior, or the story of two men growing up in Soviet Armenia and how their generation dealt with the reckoning of the Armenian Genocide. Armenians have consistently suffered from inflection points that have dramatically changed the course of their people's history and lives, and McCormick portrays these moments superbly through the short stories recounted by his characters. He makes effective use of vivid imagery that transports you to a time you never lived, and for a moment, you can see it clearly in your mind.
McCormick beautifully weaves together a story that moves through time and captures the critical moments in twentieth-century Armenian history; the Genocide, Soviet Armenia, the ASALA movement, the devastating earthquake and the subsequent wave of migration for the lucky ones to America. I cannot also point to a central theme of this book. Is it about first loves, the impact of the Genocide on the first few generations of survivors, the tale of two brothers, or the migration of Armenians? But that is not as important because McCormick carries us through the characters' journeys and leaves us mainly questioning how the perceived Armenian 'hero' turned into the phoney he was foretold to become, while the actual Armenian hero never had his moment to truly shine. Quite distinct from the real-life story of the other 'Avo'. The book certainly broke my 'no reading' spell, as I was reminded just how much more entertaining characters in books are than on a screen.