The Westing Game (1978)

by Ellen Raskin

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Conversations / Mentions
11,817	330	511	(4.08)	2 / 325
The mysterious death of an eccentric millionaire brings together an unlikely assortment of heirs who must uncover the circumstances of his death before they can claim their inheritance.

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Group › Topic	Messages	Last Message
The Green Dragon: JULY - SPOILERS - The Westing Game	3 unread / 3	Sakerfalcon, July 2014
Name that Book: I'd like to think YA Mystery	4 unread / 4	mdancer5234, July 2010

» See also 325 mentions

▾Member reviews

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Showing 1-5 of 330 (next | show all)

A bizarre chain of events begins when sixteen unlikely people gather for the reading of Samuel W. Westing's will. And though no one knows why the eccentric, game-loving millionaire has chosen a virtual stranger--and a possible murderer--to inherit his vast fortune, on things for sure: Sam Westing may be dead...but that won't stop him from playing one last game!

PlumfieldCH | Sep 21, 2023 |

With barely enough mystery to keep me going, and not enough zip on the part of the narrator, this title squeaks by with a 3.

When the book was first published in the lat 1970's, it may have been original in its cast of characters, but what made it unique then is taken for granted — ethnic diversity, clever teens; or totally implausible now — a diverse group of people all moving into the same apartment building on the same day (as none of them like their current homes?). Great books stand the test of time.

The initial clues were too easy to figure out, but the final ah-ha helped to make up for that.

Still enjoyable — a girl of 13 as the heroine. (

)

rebwaring | Aug 14, 2023 |

Meh (

)

bellac89 | Jul 29, 2023 |

I don't know how I missed this as a child. (

)

Kiramke | Jun 27, 2023 |

4.5 (

)

preetisundaram | Jun 22, 2023 |

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Showing 1-5 of 330 (next | show all)

▾Published reviews

5 reviews

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thingScore 100

The book seems to suggest that the real American inheritance is transformation, and that American transformation is a mercurial thing.

added by g33kgrrl | editThe New Yorker, Jia Tolentino (Jun 13, 2019)

added by g33kgrrl | editPublic Books, Nicholas Dames (Jul 4, 2018)

Ultimately, although the story is an exciting who-done-it, the emphasis on the ‘who’ is what keeps readers coming back. The characters make the story interesting, and they make the reader think, and that is exactly what a powerful book should do.

added by g33kgrrl | editWales Arts Review, B. J. Epstein (Feb 13, 2014)

added by g33kgrrl | editSchool Library Journal, Elizabeth Bird (Jun 17, 2012)

If Raskin's crazy ingenuity has threatened to run away with her on previous occasions, here the complicated game is always perfectly meshed with character and story. Confoundingly clever, and very funny.

added by g33kgrrl | editKirkus Reviews, starred review (May 1, 1978)

▾Other authors

» Add other authors (20 possible)

Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Ellen Raskin	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Durell, Ann	Introduction	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Summerer, Eric Michael	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Woodman, Jeff	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

▾Series and work relationships

Belongs to Publisher Series

Puffin Modern Classics

Is contained in

The Westing Game | Call It Courage | The Summer of the Swans | The Door in the Wall by Ellen Raskin

Has the adaptation

The Westing Game [1997 film] by Terence H. Winkless

Has as a study

Shelf Discovery: The Teen Classics We Never Stopped Reading by Lizzie Skurnick

Has as a student's study guide

The Westing Game - Student Packet by Novel Units, Inc. by Novel Units

Westing Game: Novel-Ties Study Guide by Beatrice G. Davis

Has as a teacher's guide

The Westing Game - Teacher Guide by Novel Units, Inc . by Novel Units

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▾Common Knowledge

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Canonical title

The Westing Game

Original title

Alternative titles

Original publication date

1978

People/Characters

Important places

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

Lake Michigan

Sunset Towers

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Important events

Fourth of July

Halloween

Related movies

The Westing Game (1997 | IMDb)

Get a Clue (IMDb)

Awards and honors

Epigraph

Dedication

for Jenny who asked for a puzzle-mystery and Susan K.

First words

The sun sets in the west (just about everyone knows that), but Sunset Towers faced east. Strange!

Quotations

Clues, they had to work on those clues. Behind closed doors. Whisper, someone may be listening.

Remember: It is not what you have, it's what you don't have that counts.

A dressmaker, a secretary, an inventor, a doctor, a judge. And, oh yes, one was a bookie, one was a burglar, one was a bomber, and one was a mistake.

Purple waves.

“Take stock in America, my heirs, and sing in praise of this generous land. You, too, may strike it rich who dares to play the Westing game.”

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Original language

Canonical DDC/MDS

Canonical LCC

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (1)

The Westing Game

▾Book descriptions

The mysterious death of an eccentric millionaire brings together an unlikely assortment of heirs who must uncover the circumstances of his death before they can claim their inheritance.

▾Library descriptions

No library descriptions found.

▾LibraryThing members' description

Book description

Sixteen people were invited to the reading of the very strange will of the very rich Samuel W. Westing. They could become millionaires, depending on how they played the game.

The not-quite-perfect heirs were paired, and each pair was given $ 10,000 and a set of clues (no two sets of clues were alike). All they had to do was find the answer, but the answer to what?

The Westing game was tricky and dangerous, but the heirs played on, through blizzards and burglaries and bombs bursting in air. And one of them won!

With her own special blend of intricacy, humor, and upside-down perceptions, Ellen Raskin has entangled a remarkable cast of characters in a puzzle-knotted, word-twisting plot. She then deftly unravels it again in a surprising (but fair) and highly satisfying ending.

Available online at The Internet Archive:
https://archive.org/search.php?query=t...

Haiku summary

Would you play a game

against a dead man for a

large inheritance?

(legallypuzzled)

Was Sam Westing killed

By one of his sixteen heirs

Looking for windfall?

(benscripps)