A gypsy card reader reads the fortunes of all who enter his shop in a human parade of the beautiful, the young, killers, poets, dancers, the rich, divorcees, and fools. He turns over his tarot cards and tells them the truth. Each reading has its risks and rewards, and he keeps a knife in his boot. One day a young actress enters his shop and he discovers her cards are also his own. The Card Reader is a love story about a tarot card reader and an actress just starting out. It begins with the card reader doing a series of readings that depict the card reader's world, then blooms into a longer story of the relationship between the card reader and actress. Through the prism of the mystical meanings of the tarot cards, the card reader faces inner darkness, seeks meaning, and finds love in a young woman, a lovely fool, whose goal is applause. The Card Reader is contemporary literature told from the unique point of view of a card reader schooled in the ancient teachings of the Tarot. Readers are immediately plunged into the intrigu- ing world of fortune-telling and questioning seekers. Each of the card reader's readings is a vivid vignette of human desires, foibles, weaknesses, evils, and hopes. Full of human insights derived from the interpretations of the cards, the book is a fast-paced and satisfying spiritual journey that traces the path of two unlike people finding each other. With interest in the Tarot and mystical teaching of the Kaballah growing among scholars, Jungian psychological research, and Hollywood, this book is singular in its leading-edge content. The Card Reader is founded upon the Kaballistic scholarship of Dr. Pamela Eakins, author of Spirit of the Tarot (Weiser) and her newly published tarot deck. The central metaphors of the book focus upon The Fool card, the first card in the Major Arcanna, a card of open-heartedness and beginnings, and The Tower, a card in which worlds tumble. No matter what the reader's experience with fortune-telling, the book presents an enthralling story of personal growth when love is in the cards. "As for The Card Reader...simply marvelous...all of it " Pamela Eakins, PH.D., "Tarot of the Spirit"