Mooncranker's Gift Author:Barry Unsworth Farnaby, a young Englishman in Istanbul researching a thesis on Ottoman fiscal policy, is nervous about his reunion with the celebrated Mooncranker, ... Show synopsis Farnaby, a young Englishman in Istanbul researching a thesis on Ottoman fiscal policy, is nervous about his reunion with the celebrated Mooncranker, who once so fatefully influence... more »d and disturbed his life. Mooncranker, a famous intellectual, is now a pitiful alcoholic deserted by his secretary and lover Miranda--the woman Farnaby secretly loved with the violence of youth. Mooncranker sends him to find Miranda at a notorious Turkish spa, where sex is known to come along with the price of the room. Farnaby tries to understand Mooncranker's gift to him as a boy of 13, which has tainted his life ever since, as he finds himself a pivotal figure in the eccentric destinies of the other residents of the spa.« less