Usually it’s other people’s lives that are a mess. But when successful divorce lawyer JB’s best friend dies, he finds his own world in turmoil.
Suddenly, he must reexamine years of choices — and one big secret. Card Game follows JB and his band of poker playing brothers from their first game in a 1970’s suburban Maryland basement through their most memorable good and bad bets and wins and losses. The men gather at a funeral to reflect on everything that they’ve faced together, and even more importantly, all that they have not. Card Game brings to life an era of prank phone calls and fake IDs, unsupervised boys’ nights out, and moments of head-shaking depravity, even as it tells the story of what happens when these boys grow up. A funny, poignant, and at times painful meditation on death, lifelong friendships, and honesty, Card Game is as irreverent as it is heartfelt.
See the trailer to Card Game HERE.
“You will laugh. You will cry. Occasionally, you may cover your eyes. David Bulitt has written a wonderful, compelling novel, a story of friendship, loss, and what really matters most in life. He perfectly captures 1970s suburbia — and what happens when best high school buddies grow up. Poker Night has never been told like this. Card Game is aces. Can’t wait for the next one!“
“David Bulitt’s ‘Card Game’ is an eloquently woven journey of adolescent memories and present day realities. As JB and his lifelong buddies gather around the table for their weekly Monday night card games and bantering sessions JB finds himself peering inward at the boys they once were and the men they have become. In this often humorous, sometimes hilarious, and yet deeply intimate novel the reader will discover that there is a seat for everyone around the card game table.”
“A perfect summertime read (or curled up on a winter’s day). I read it on the plane, and couldn’t help laughing out loud. David Bulitt is a keen observer, and has an intelligent, witty and comfortable writing style. As a woman with a group of lifelong friends, I really appreciated a glimpse into the masculine version of these special relationships. David Bulitt does not disappoint in this wonderful story of sometimes bad boys, but really good men.”
“I really enjoyed David Bulitt’s Card Game. It was such a fun and entertaining read. I became immediately invested in the characters and found myself quickly reading each page to see where the story was heading. You could tell that so many scenes in the book were written with much reverence to the bond among true friends. There was great humor throughout, but also a subtle melancholy as the wistfulness of youth inevitably gives way to the responsibilities and challenges of adulthood. Yet love, understanding and respect, gained through shared experiences, hold us together.”
”I’ve seen a few reviews from people that were familiar with the area(s) where the book was set and how that made it so appealing to them. I was not familiar with most of the places referenced, but I was still immensely interested in the places and characters portrayed in the story. There was just something so universal about the interaction of good friends and family. I felt it could have been a story about me and my buddies through the ups & downs of our lives. That relate-ability is what makes Card Game magical.”
“As a man of a certain age, I found a lot to relate to in David Bulitt’s literary debut ‘Card Game’. We all have the wild-ass friend who never grew up, another who has a douchebag brother, and yet a third who’s wife hates all of us. When we do get together as a group with our ‘brothers from a different mother’ to gamble, embellish old stories, and drink to excess, the conversation rarely strays beyond ‘Breaking Bad’ or college football. Sometimes we can’t even remember exactly how many kids one of our old friends has, or god forbid their names, genders, and ages. Despite that, there’s a love and connection that goes much deeper than we may openly acknowledge. Anyway, the men depicted in Bulitt’s ‘Card Game’ are no doubt drawn from his real life, in one way or another, and that reality and believability is what grounds the novel and makes it special. I recommend the book, and look forward to whatever else this new author comes up with.”
“I enjoyed this book. It’s the story of “Bro”, a present day divorce attorney, looking back on his life and friendships with a group of guys he has known since high school. The story moves back and forth in time, which makes it interesting to follow. There is a mystery of sorts involved, and each chapter flows to the next, moving and back and forth in time flawlessly. There were parts of this book I thought were funny, and others very tender. As a female, and one who came of age in the 1970s, I enjoyed reading the coming age story from the opposite sex. Interestingly enough we all have the same feelings of love and loyalty to our close friends, something I think is innate to people of our generation. We tend to stick together, which I think was the ultimate theme of this book. I look forward to reading the author’s further work.”
“I initially thought, as a woman, what could I enjoy about men playing cards and getting into trouble? But what I found was that I could not stop reading it to see how each character openly faced their every day challenges, laughed at themselves and stuck together. And what I learned is how the mind of a boy/man works. Crude but honest, loyal to real friends and who cares about how pretty or thin you are so long as you have some good friends, family, sex, booze and fun. The “bros” felt like my friends by the end. I cannot wait for the next book!”
“I have never read a book like Card Game because in so many ways it mirrored parts of my life. I have several very close friends for over 70 years, am a lawyer and grew up in Maryland and frequently visited Atlantic City, major sites in the story. The writing is breezy, poignant and often downright funny. The descriptions of the characters and their exploits frequently made me stop reading to think about growing up over the years with my close friends, frequently smiling at the memories. Card Game vividly captures the varied characters in the story in a way that the reader can easily relate to, and the author has a knack for using just the right words to tell the story. Congratulations David on an outstanding first novel and I am looking forward to your next ones.”
“This is a book everyone needs to read. The method in which the characters develop brings each one of them into your own life. They all resonate with people and situations that were a part of my life. On numerous occasions I found myself l abruptly laughing out loud. This book is about growing up, growing old, growing in responsibility, yet holding on ever-so-tightly to the people and events that influenced “the growing”. There were a number of subtle messages in the book with a larger, more “overarching message”. The book is a great read and once you get moving with it, you really don’t want to put it down – you find yourself anxiously looking forward to the next piece of lunacy or lesson the characters “dump on your plate.”
“In his remarkable first novel, ‘Card Game’, David Bulitt fills an inside straight, and leaves it all on the table. I look forward to reading his next one”