Overview
A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS' CHOICE Cowboys Full traces the story of poker from its roots in China, the Middle East, and Europe, through the back rooms of saloons and the parlors of U.S. presidents to its evolution as a global phenomenon. It describes how early Americans took a French parlor game and turned it into a national craze by the time of the Civil War. It explains how poker, once dominated by cardsharps, is now the most popular card game in Europe, East Asia, Australia, South America, and cyberspace, as well as on television. Along the way, James McManus examines the game's remarkable hold on American culture, seen in everything from Frederic Remington's paintings to countless poker novels, movies, and plays. Cowboys Full is raucous and fascinating, a lively, definitive history of the game that, more than any other, explains who we are and how we operate.
Full Product Details
Author: James McManus
Publisher: Picador USA
Imprint: Picador USA
Dimensions:
Width: 14.00cm
, Height: 3.80cm
, Length: 21.30cm
Weight: 0.703kg
ISBN: 9780312430085
ISBN 10: 0312430086
Pages: 608
Publication Date: 28 September 2010
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Reviews
“Entertaining, informative, and genial . . . McManus writes with verve and authority. A copious, lively account of poker's past and present.” —Robert Pinsky, The New York Times Book Review <p><br>“The book is sensational. McManus is a writer of immense talent, deft with language and with an ear that seems to catch all the right conversations. And he has a cast of characters that would be the envy of the most imaginative novelest.” —Rick Cogan, Chicago Tribune <br> “Triumphantly realized . . . The narrative fizzes along through 500-plus pages, packed with arresting anecdotes. . . . Don't bet on anyone bettering this classic account.” —Simon Redfern, The Independent (UK)<br>“The story of poker is that of risk-loving America and, recently, the rest of the world. Here is that crazy ride in unparalleled detail, driven by wit, wisdom, true love, and sizzling style. As analyst, historian, devotee, and no mean player, James McManu
Author Information
James McManus has covered poker for The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Harper's Magazine, Card Player, ESPN.com, and The NewYorker. Positively Fifth Street (FSG, 2003), his memoir of finishing fifth in the World Series of Poker championship event, was a New York Times bestseller and is already considered a classic.
