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More copies of this ISBN:Positively Fifth Street: Murderers, Cheetahs, and Binion's World Series of Pokerby James McManus
Staff Pick
This book is the Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil of high stakes poker. Author James McManus used his Harper's advance money to immerse himself into tournament poker. The result is an engrossing and bizarre account of Las Vegas gambling. Go ahead and admit it — you watch the World Poker Tour. Raise your bid and read this book. Review-a-Day (What is Review-a-Day?)"I found the author's writing about the tournament heart-stoppingly dramatic, as brilliant as anything ever written about poker. And while his coverage of the Binion trial feels less compelling, less fought-for, Positively Fifth Street, like Sin City itself, is an endlessly fascinating spectacle." Adrienne Miller, Esquire (read the entire Esquire review) Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:In the spring of 2000, Harper's Magazine sent James McManus to Las Vegas to cover the World Series of Poker, in particular the progress of women in the $23 million event, and the murder of Ted Binion, the tournament's prodigal host, purportedly done in by a stripper and her boyfriend. But when McManus arrives, the lure of the tables compels him to risk his entire Harper's advance in a long-shot attempt to play in the tournament himself. This is his deliciously suspenseful account of the tournament — the players, the hand-to-hand combat, his own unlikely progress in it — and the delightfully seedy carnival atmosphere that surrounds it. Positively Fifth Street is a high-stakes adventure and a terrifying but often hilarious account of one man's effort to understand what Edward O. Wilson has called "Pleistocene exigencies" — the eros and logistics of our competitive instincts. Review:"McManus has crafted one of the finest books ever written on poker, gambling and murder. There is hardly an aspect of the gambling life that he doesn't honestly examine." Kim I. Eisler, Washington Post Review:"Positively Fifth Street — nonfiction though it is — may be the closest thing to a true Beat novel we've seen since Kesey went back to dairy farming, Tom Robbins started going for too many easy laughs, and Thomas Pynchon fell silent again." Gerald Nicosia, Los Angeles Times Review:"The drama of high-stakes poker is inherently compelling — here is a rare opportunity to read an account by someone who can really write." Publishers Weekly Review:"Beware this book. Jim McManus portrays a Vegas that most of us don't believe ever really existed — seedy and thrilling and deadly — and his poker scenes rank with the most exciting sports writing you'll ever find. I'd never even heard of Texas hold'em when I first read his blow-by-blow account of how far he made it — as an amateur! — in the World Series of Poker. Now, because of him, I'm hooked on the game." Ira Glass, host of This American Life Review:"Murder, sex, drugs, Sylvia Plath, Amarillo Slim, the history of cards, the psychology of gambling, and most insistently the edgy drama of no-limit Texas hold'em — it's all here in language that nearly burns a hole in the page." Billy Collins, U.S. Poet Laureate Review:"Chasing after the great big epic of the U.S.A., McManus finds at the poker table a reflection of just about everything that matters: love, money, violence, resentment, envy, fear. Positively Fifth Street is a love story, really, and just the far side of gonzo, too, with the tranquilized reporter following his dream right into the story — like the kid at the natural history museum who crawled inside the diorama." Rich Cohen, author of Lake Effect Review:"Very entertaining and very accurate." David Sklansky, author of The Theory of Poker Review:"Most fascinating is his portrait of the customs and sensibilities of the eclectic homo pokereins across every race and nationality, male and female (including a very aggressive barefoot and pregnant professional poker player). A delicious inside look." Vanessa Bush, Booklist Review:"Irresistible...McManus gives the reader a riveting over-the-shoulder view of the hand-by-hand action....His prose is flashy, funny, and unexpectedly erudite, but McManus hardly even needs it — with material this rich, he's holding the writer's equivalent of a royal flush." Time Review:"James McManus bet big and won. His Positively Fifth Street, an exhilarating chronicle of the 2000 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, will go on the shelf with the classic that inspired it, The Biggest Game in Town, A. Alvarez's account of the 1981 event." Robert R. Harris, The New York Times Book Review Review:"Though the language of poker can be as obtuse as haiku, McManus uses it to dazzle the reader....A heart-in-its-mouth card story: urgent, potent, and damn jolly." Kirkus Reviews Synopsis:Positively Fifth Street is a high-stakes adventure, and a terrifying but often hilarious account of one man's effort to understand what Edward O. Wilson has called "Pleistocene exigencies" — the eros and logistics of our primary competitive instincts. Synopsis:In the spring of 2000, Harper's Magazine sent James McManus to Las Vegas to cover the World Series of Poker, in particular the progress of women in the $23 million event, and the murder of Ted Binion, the tournament's prodigal host, purportedly done in by a stripper and her boyfriend. But when McManus arrives, the lure of the tables compels him to risk his entire Harper's advance in a long-shot attempt to play in the tournament himself. This is his deliciously suspenseful account of the tournament--the players, the hand-to-hand combat, his own unlikely progress in it--and the delightfully seedy carnival atmosphere that surrounds it. Positively Fifth Street is a high-stakes adventure and a terrifying but often hilarious account of one man's effort to understand what Edward O. Wilson has called "Pleistocene exigencies"--the eros and logistics of our competitive instincts. About the AuthorJames McManus is a novelist and poet, most recently winner of the Peter Lisagor Award for sports journalism. He teaches writing and comparative literature at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, including a course on the literature and science of poker. Table of ContentsThe End 3 Dead Money 21 Family, Career, Even Life 35 Black Magic 69 Urge Overkill 87 The Poker of Science 107 Nobody Said Anything 125 Chicks with Decks 149 Death in the Afternoon 185 Book-learned 207 On the Bubble 223 Song for Two Jims 249 Tension-discharge 269 The Last Supper 311 Either Way 337 Zombies is Bawth of 'Em 355 Tons and Tons of Luck 369 Poker Terminology 389 Bibliography 399 Acknowledgments 405 Index 407 What Our Readers Are SayingAdd a comment for a chance to win!
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