Check it out … the New York Times Book Review, as part of a holiday gift guide, have put out their “100 Notable Books of 2009“ … and making the list is Cowboys Full: The Story of Poker by Jim McManus.
Of those 100, 55 are non-fiction. Cowboys Full sits between ‘A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk, the Mexican War, and the Conquest of the American Continent’ by Robert Merry, and ‘Dancing in the Dark: A Cultural History of the Great Depression’ by Morris Dickstein. Granted, the list is alphabetical, but still …
Take a look at the excerpt the NYT ran last month — titled “Pokertician“. Considering all the good recent press poker has gotten from the likes of the Times, the Wall Street Journal, the National Journal, NPR, et al, you can see how McManus’ book — and his or his publisher’s attached promotional efforts, of course — has done more in 2009 to spread contemporary poker ideology to America’s liberal elitist intellectual set than any press release from PokerStars ever could.
(No offense, Matt, just sayin’ …)
Of course the NYT’s review of McManus’ book is hedlined the (”The Cheating Game“) … so maybe that’s a reminder that despite efforts that may seem to legitimize poker pursuits, the game still will always be thought of as … similar to dieting and matrimony? If so, that might explain why this tome — currently ranked in the Top 500 on Amazon — has apparently struck a chord with at least a few people who aren’t otherwise thinking ’bout poker.
You really should buy Cowboys Full: The Story of Poker by Jim McManus. No one’s paying us to say that, but Pokerati will earn at least $0.14 if you do.
Jim McManus appeared on All Things Considered the morning the November Nine was getting underway, to offer a little cultural (and presidential) history of the game, based on his new book, Cowboys Full.
Not to be a spoiler, but the closing line features a sound clip from Darvin Moon, with weekend host Guy Raz saying, “That is Darvin Moon, and he’s about as far away as you can get from poker royalty.” That is a funnier line than Raz even realizes, considering Moon’s resistance to all things sponsorship.
Raz does a follow-up the next day, just on Darvin Moon:
And for a little low-brow historical perspective on McManus from a pre-Darvin Moon era, here’s my interview with the author of Positively Fifth Street from 2004.
I wasn’t in the car for more than 30 seconds before I heard some excited WSOP Final Table buzz in parts usually not related to much anything poker … it was on Las Vegas local KOMP 92.3 FM (The Rock Station!) … and they’re hosting a WSOP viewing party at the ESPNZone in New York, New York. They’ve got a special guest and everything — Doyle Brunson — who will be there pimping his new book, The Godfather of Poker.
Once upon a time, poker books were everywhere and everything. Then we found that saturation point, right around the time the poker boom was coming to an end … and it became harder and harder to really care about the latest poker tome … poker books stopped selling, the bookstores took down their dedicated poker racks, and uber-poker geeks like yours truly built up a pile of literature still collecting dust while waiting to be read. I swear I’ll move beyond page 26 of Bill Chen’s The Mathematics of Poker one of these days!
But probably not before reading two books that we can expect later this year: Lost Vegas, by Dr. Pauly … and Check-Raising the Devil, by Mike Matusow (with Tim Lavalli and Amy Calistri). Lost Vegas will be based on much of what we’ve been reading over the years on Tao of Poker, though I personally know the book is what Pauly’s been saving his best, so-far untold stuff for … so I’m confident every poker-industry douche insider will be eager to read what he’s been holding back.
Likewise, Matusow’s tale promises to be the kind of interesting auto-bio that even my grandmother could enjoy — lots of sex, drugs, and crime that just so happens to be set in the world of high-stakes casino gambling and/or prison — by a guy who has seen up-close-and-personal the good, the bad, and the really bad side of it all. Judging both these books by their recently completed covers (click to enlarge), I gotta think there might be something to these pokery stories, even though neither promise to tell you anything about how to play Ace-King.
As we pointed out a week or so ago, the WSOP is actively protecting their name as it pertains to all things paper … books, magazines, etc. … and now, though from what I understand all is normal with Bluff semi-contracted to produce the official WSOP programs again this year, Harrah’s filed an application two weeks ago for ownership of the phrase “World Series of Poker” as it pertains to “event programs”.
That’s a question-mark, not a statement of fact. In fact … I just happened to be talking the other day with someone who works with the WSOP and asked: How ’bout WSOP: The Coffee Table Book? Surely you guys are familiar the success of Hot Chicks with Douchebags, right? Seems very apropos to poker …
The answer in the negative was, C’mon, Dan, you’re no Michael Craig time and money, dude. Fair enough, but maybe I was on to something, as just three weeks ago Harrah’s filed a trademark application for the phrase “World Series of Poker” to be theirs as it pertains to:
Books featuring information, news, and entertainment related to gaming and the game of poker; magazines featuring information, news, and entertainment related to gaming and the game of poker
Meanwhile, our buddy Tom, the high-stakes pro who coulda made more money at Bellagio as a volunteer blogger than he did as a poker player during his 5-diamond extended weekend, is apparently all the rage in Bulgaria. Pic #1 of 100 … pretty impressive:
I don’t really get into poker fiction too much — the real-life stories are sordid/compelling enough. But I just stumbled across this novel by John Blowers — Life on Tilt: Confessions of a Poker Dad — and I gotta say, seems kinda intriguing.
I won’t waste your time trying to tell you what it’s all about without having even read/listened to it … but as much as Blowers’s photo frightens me (he looks like The Butler), the first 20 seconds of his promotional vid makes me think it’s gotta be better than Lucky You.
Meanwhile, a lot of people have finally read and are talking about the more pokery Harrington’s new(ish) back-to-back cash game books. Supposedly they’re great — that’s what everynone’s saying. I’m starting to wonder if one of the reasons I’m doing so poorly in golf tournaments these days isn’t because I’m one of the few players who hasn’t read his Iliad on tournament play yet.
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I don’t really get into poker fiction too much — the real-life stories are sordid/compelling enough. But I just stumbled across this novel by John Blowers — Life on Tilt: Confessions of a Poker Dad — and I gotta say, seems kinda intriguing. 
. Supposedly they’re great — that’s what everynone’s saying. I’m starting to wonder if one of the reasons I’m doing so poorly in 
