book reviews

Reviews of other people’s books

Book Review: State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America

book reviews • Dave • October 21, 2008 • state by state, travel writing

Matt Weiland and Sean Wilsey, eds. State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America. New York: HarperCollins, 2008. 569 pp. This collection of original essays is an attempt to duplicate–in concentrated form–the classic WPA 1930s state guides. The editors solicited pieces about each of the 50 states, and conclude with a conversation about Washington, DC. […]

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Review in The American Interest

book reviews, writing • Dave • October 16, 2008 • book review, des wilson, poker, the american interest

I’ve got a pretty long review of Des Wilson’s Ghosts at the Table in the current issue of The American Interest. In the review, I go from talking about the book to discussing the place of poker in global culture. Here’s a sample: Poker is the quintessential American game. As with jazz or capitalism It’s

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book reviews, writing

Book Review: American Lightning

book reviews • Dave • October 7, 2008 • american lightning, book review, howard blum

It’s been a busy week so far–I gave a talk at the Liberty Fund in Indianapolis yesterday and learned from afar that the Plaza v. Plaza verdict had come down. I’ll have more to say about that on the next Vegas Gang podcast, which should be fun. With all of my travel yesterday I got

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Book review: Twisted Head

book reviews • Dave • October 3, 2008 • carl capotorto, twisted head

I’m on another book review kick, thanks in part to Amazon’s Vine program–they send me books to read, and I get to review them. Looking at the selection, I’ve got to say that Theodore Sturgeon probably had it right–there weren’t that many that I’d want to read. But I picked a few of the more

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Book review: The Leisure Architecture of Wayne McAllister

book reviews • Dave • July 17, 2008 • book reviews, desert inn, el rancho vegas, fremont, las vegas strip, sands, wayne mcallister

There always seem to be a few lamentations when someone pulls down a Strip icon, but the protests are getting more and more muted. That’s mostly because Las Vegas resort architecture seems to be essentially disposable; it’s built for specific market conditions, and when they change, it is renovated beyond recognition or replaced. It’s just

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Book Review: The Revelations of Dr. Modesto

book reviews • Dave • July 16, 2008 • alan harrington, books reviews, the revelations of dr modesto

This is my 1000th post at the die is cast, and what better way to celebrate than a review of a 50 year-old book that has nothing to do with gambling or Las Vegas? Suffice it to say that I’m just not a centralist. You don’t know what that means yet, but if you go

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Book Review: 52 Ways to Cheat at Poker

book reviews • Dave • July 15, 2008 • 52 ways to cheat at poker, allan zola kronzek, book reviews, casino cheating, cheating, poker

For a long time now, I’ve been a total mark for anything written about con men, tricksters, and legerdemain specialists. Whether it’s fiction, memoir, or how-to, I’ll read it. It’s not that I want to cheat other people, or that I’m paranoid about falling victim to them–it’s my sheer fascination with guys who are masters

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Book review: Optimal Play

book reviews • Dave • July 7, 2008 • eadington, ethier, gambling math, optimal play

Reviewing this one hasn’t been easy, mostly because it’s got some very difficult math and I haven’t taken a math class since my junior year in high school. Still, it’s a valuable addition to the literature, and I figured I give it a shot. Read on for more…

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Book review: $50 a Night

book reviews • Dave • July 3, 2008

It’s my last book review repost, and it’s one that I’ve regretted inflicting on the wrold. Sheesh, this one brings back memories that might have been better buried. Just look at the cover: Looking through the shelves of fiction in UNLV Special Collections for pulp crime/gambling novels to read, I stumbled across this gem. If

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Book review: Out of the Jungle

book reviews • Dave • June 13, 2008 • book reviews, jimmy hoffa, out of the jungle, teamsters, thaddeus russell

Jimmy Hoffa, through the lending power of his Central States Pension Fund, had a huge impact on Las Vegas and casino history. I don’t think the definitive statement of that impact has been written yet. That’s not at all a knock on this book: the author’s scope is Hoffa’s whole life, and the Teamster investments

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Book review: God Doesn’t Shoot Craps

book reviews • Dave • June 6, 2008 • book reviews, fiction, gambling systems, god doesn't shoot craps, parrando's paradox, richard armstrong

My review of Richard Armstrong’s outstanding novel God Doesn’t Shoot Craps.

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Book review: Paradise Lost

book reviews • Dave • June 4, 2008 • book reviews, california, non-fiction, paradise lost, peter shrag, taxes

A review of Peter Shrag’s Paradise Lost: California’s Experience, America’s Future.

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Book review: The Dice Spelled Murder

book reviews • Dave • June 2, 2008 • al fray, books reviews, crime fiction, pulp fiction, the dice spelled murder

I thought this book was corny when I read it, but in a fun way. In retrospect, the title is hilarious. Dice can’t spell, so how they spell murder is beyond me. This is an almost Hinchcliffe/Holmesian Mad Libs: The X spelled (murder, death, fear, evil). I guess having “murder” in the title sold books,

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Book review: Ghosts at the Table

book reviews • Dave • May 28, 2008 • book reviews, des wilson, gambling & culture, ghosts at the table, history, nonfiction, poker

Here’s a brand new review for a book that’s only been out a little more than a month! Am I on the ball, or what? And it’s not a random book that I’ve plucked from the shelves at Lied Library–it’s a poker book. And it’s a good one. Read on, and you’ll see what I

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Book review: The Fortune Machine

book reviews • Dave • May 21, 2008 • blackjack, card counting, fiction, gambling and sex, gambling systems, life in vegas, sam ross, the fortune machine

This is another paperback I discovered in the catacombs of the UNLV Special Collections stacks. The tagline is what sold me: “The most beautiful girls in Las Vegas couldn’t stop Eddie from winning.” Also, Library Journal called it “a groovy novel.” So, I figured, it’s about a card-counting Greg Brady. This might make for an

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Book review: The Spirit Cabinet

book reviews • Dave • May 19, 2008 • book reviews, fiction, paul quarrington, spirit cabinet

I’m back with a brand-new review of a nine year-old book. This is another example of a book jumping off the shelves of UNLV Libraries and into my hands based on little more than a hunch and a quick judge of the book’s cover. Figuring that any book that’s about magicians and features the erstwhile

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Book review: Eyeing the Flash

book reviews • Dave • May 16, 2008 • book reviews, carnivals, eyeing the flash, non-fiction, peter fenton

I’ve always been fascinated by carnivals, carnies, and con-artists. Two of my favorite books, the novel Nightmare Alley and Julian Prosauker’s Suckers All!, the story of honest John Kelly, are set in this milieu. So how does a more recent memoir of life on the carnival pitch fair? Let’s see.

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Book review: This Man’s Army

book reviews • Dave • May 15, 2008 • andrew exum, army, operation enduring freedom, this man's army

Back in 2004, my editor at Gotham gave me an advance copy of this to read on one of my trips to New York. I started reading it in the Port Authority bus terminal while waiting for the trusty NJ Transit 312 to take me back to Atlantic City, and didn’t put it down until

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Book review: Something for Nothing

book reviews • Dave • May 13, 2008 • jackson lears, luck in america, non-fiction, review, something for nothing

I originally reviewed this for the Pennsylvania Review of History. As you’ll see, it’s a provocative book that might make you rethink just how lucky you are.

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Book review: Super Casino

book reviews, life in vegas, news about gambling • Dave • May 12, 2008 • circus circus, life in vegas, luxor, mandalay resort group, news about gambling, non-fiction

Re-reading after seven years, I’m struck by two things: I’m not entirely comfortable reviewing books that I don’t like, and the general quality of writing about Las Vegas has not much improved. Let me explain: as a writer, I absolutely hate saying negative things about other writers. I know how hard it is to find

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book reviews, life in vegas, news about gambling