About this title: When HARPER'S magazine gave James McManus a $4,000 advance to write an article on the 2000 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, he used it as a springboard to win his own way into the game. A poker player since the age of 9, McManus worked at improving his game and was eventually able to win the $10,000 needed to enter the big game--which boasts a ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Edition: First ed.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
Date Published: 04/2003
ISBN-13:9780374236489ISBN:0374236488
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 416 p. Contains: Illustrations. read more
Edition: First ed.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
Date Published: 04/2003
ISBN-13:9780374236489ISBN:0374236488
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 416 p. Contains: Illustrations. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
Date Published: 04/2003
ISBN-13:9780374236489ISBN:0374236488
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 416 p. Contains: Illustrations. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
Date Published: 04/2003
ISBN-13:9780374236489ISBN:0374236488
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 416 p. Contains: Illustrations. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
Date Published: 04/2003
ISBN-13:9780374236489ISBN:0374236488
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 416 p. Contains: Illustrations. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
Date Published: 04/2003
ISBN-13:9780374236489ISBN:0374236488
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 416 p. Contains: Illustrations. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
Date Published: 04/2003
ISBN-13:9780374236489ISBN:0374236488
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 416 p. Contains: Illustrations. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
Date Published: 04/2003
ISBN-13:9780374236489ISBN:0374236488
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 416 p. Contains: Illustrations. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
Date Published: 04/2003
ISBN-13:9780374236489ISBN:0374236488
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 416 p. Contains: Illustrations. read more
Description: Good in Good jacket. Ex-Library. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. Nice copy with usual library markings. Text is clean and unmarked. DJ is covered with clear mylar. read more
Description: Good in good dust jacket. Ex-library. Ex-Library book-on-tape with stickers and stampings. Moderate wear. Clamshell has some typical wear. 2 cassettes. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN-13:9780374236489ISBN:0374236488
Description: Very Good. 0374236488 *HCDJ * SHIPPING WITHIN 24 HOURS! ** QUESTIONS ANSWERED QUICKLY ** THANKS ** HARDCOVER BOOK WITH DUST JACKET. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9780374236489ISBN:0374236488
Description: Very good in fair dust jacket. crisp & clean pages, minor shelfwear to hardcover, dustjacket taped in back due to horizontal tear along back and in corner. 416 p.; 1.39" x 9.32" x 6.32". Includes Illustrations. read more
Binding: Board book
Publisher: Thorndike Press
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9780786257270ISBN:078625727X
Description: Very Good. LARGE PRINT. Former Library Book, library binding, usual stamps and stickers, pages great and binding tight pages nice, minimal wear on cover. read more
"James McManus was sent by Harper's to cover the 2000 World Series of Poker (hereafter in this review to be referred to as the WSOP) in Las Vegas and to also report on the trial of the couple accused of murdering Ted Binion, son of the WSOP founder Benny Binion. This dual assignment was apparently not enough for McManus, a lifelong poker enthusiast, who could not resist the temptation of playing in the main event himself. With an advance less than half of the entry fee, he won his way in though a "satellite" and managed, with both skill and luck, to outlast most of the field of over five hundred to make it to the final table.
Positively Fifth Street is many books in one. While the Binion trial and the author's tournament experience counterpoint each other nicely, McManus added a great deal more to the mix, including a history of the game that borrows heavily from other books. McManus clearly acknowledges his sources, particularly the beautifully written The Biggest Game in Town, by A. Alvarez, however at a certain point I wished he would concentrate more on writing his own book than summarizing the books of others. Perhaps there are just too many subjects covered; in addition to those already mentioned, McManus also waxes on about the psychology of poker, poker and science, and also gives us three generations of his family history. One or two less side trips may have made the book more cohesive.
These small criticisms aside, the tone, pace, and structure of the book all work to propel the reader through with very few slow downs. Mcmanus's background as a fiction writer has served him well in developing a narrative with real tension. In particular his structure of interspersing his tournament experience with other topics is so effective that it has already been copied by many inferior poker biographies."
"I wasn't a poker player when I read this but I was a bit fascinated with the idea. This book trancends just a game playing aspect and brings many of the characters of las vegas poker championships right into vision. You don't feel like you are reading an actual real life story at all, well worth the read regardless of your interest in the game of poker to give you an inside vidw of the competition."
"Many interesting individual topics, but the writer tried to intertwine about 5 or 6 different stories in one book. It didn't work.
His account of the murder of Ted Binion, he admits is fictional. That starts the book, and you don't get the trial results till the end.
He spends most of the the book talking about his life, his wife, his playing poker, his "good Jim, his bad Jim", his..... The book is about 50% autobiography.
He covers the poker tournament, but other stories tread into it so much it's not easy to follow and thus irritating.
Mostly I read the book because I remembered reading the Harper's mag article which is a tight summary of the tournament and was interesting.
Harper's keep him on a tight leash and that was an interesting story.
In this book, he wasn't willing to edit the fluff out and at 398 pages, it got to be tedious."
"Another book that changed my life. Reading the juxtaposition of the author in an improbable run to the final table of the WSOP and the demise of the physical manifestation of the history of poker in Teddy Binion, well, it made me realize that there is more to the game of poker than just money, gambling and smoke. Its psychology, art, science, math, and money gambling and smoke. The poker table is where the microcosm of humanity meet and where mental Darwinism occurs. The strongest survive, the bravest excel, the meek inherit the table once the rich take their profits and move on! McManus is an artist and tells the story of poker with the love of a warrior and the down to earth nature of a human being! TERRIFIC book!"
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