a novel about divided personality and disclosure. It reveals a lot about Kosinskis mental state. One might see Jimmy Osten as a foil of Domostroy. Osten is the young musician and Domostroy is the old one. The rock star status is connected to Kosinskis role as an actor, screenwriter, and celebrity which has been taking flight just as Kosinskis writing career was being overtaken by self-doubt. Domostroy is the inner Kosinski who is dying from a sense of hollowness, while Goddard/Osten is sailing through a slightly different creative universe and must avoid disclosure at all costs. The conflicting personalities of Goddard and Domostroy are in conflict within Kosinskis life. Its between his high-flying surface and his imploding inner being. (JK; pg. 375-377) Kevin Lauderdale wrote for Amazon Book Review, What is the obligation of an artist to his audience? Pinball is a surreal, intense meditation on the relationship of art to the artists that produce it, and the relationship of artists to their audience. Reportedly written in response to John Lennon's assassination, Pinball is the story of an obsessive fan's search for the world's most popular rock star, the mysterious Goddard. Goddard does not perform in public; no one has ever seen him, no one knows who he really is. Andrea, the obsessed fan, seduces has-been classical pianist Patrick Domostroy to help her in the search. As the search develops, Domostroy wonders about its true motivation, and begins to understand that the revelation will inevitably be a disappointment. It's the art that matters, not the artist -- but he does not know what Andrea has planned for Goddard once she finds him. Occasionally overwritten and melodramatic, Pinball nevertheless exerts an almost hypnotic spell on a first-time reader. Domostroy's search takes him from sex clubs to society parties, all of which are acutely observed, as is the character of Domostroy himself. Domostroy is the novel's most fu...
