Al Alvarez touched down in Las Vegas one hot day in 1981, a dedicated amateur poker player but a stranger to the town and its crazy ways. For three mesmerizing weeks he witnessed some of the monster high-stakes games that could only have happened in Vegas and talked to the extraordinary characters who dominated them--road gamblers and local professionals who won and lost fortunes on a regular basis. Set over the course of one tournament, The Biggest Game in Town is botha chronicle of the World Series of Poker--the first ever written--and a portrait of the hustlers, madmen, and geniuses who ruled the high-stakes game in America. It is a brilliant insight into poker's appeal as a hobby, an addiction, and a way of life, and into the skewed psychology of master players and fearless gamblers. With a new introduction by the author, Alvarez's classic account is "the greatest dissection of high-stakes Vegas poker and the madness that surrounds it ever written" (TimeOut [UK]).

the Biggest Game in Town.

Humor & Entertainment

A. Alvarez

Puzzles & Games

flamingo, London

Night: An Exploration of Night Life, Night Language, Sleep and Dreams

Self-Help

Dreams

Vintage

"To write a beautiful book about suicide . . . to transform the subject into something beautifulâ€”this is the forbidding task that A. Alvarez set for himself. . . . He has succeeded."â€”New York Times"Suicide," writes the notes English poet and critic A. Alvarez, "has permeated Western culture like a dye that cannot be washed out." Although the aims of this compelling, compassionate work are broadly cultural and literary, the narrative is rooted in personal experience: it begins with a long memoir of Sylvia Plath, and ends with an account of the author's own suicide attempt. Within this dramatic framework, Alvarez launches his enquiry into the final taboo of human behavior, and traces changing attitudes towards suicide from the perspective of literature. He follows the black thread leading from Dante through Donne and the romantic agony, to the Savage God at the heart of modern literature.

The savage god: A study of suicide,

Weidenfeld&Nicolson

Hers

Random House]

Hunt

Simon&Schuster

A straightforward examination of divorce, blending the objective and the personal, traces the history of divorce and shifting public and private attitudes towad divorce, and discusses the causes, circumstances, and consequences of actual divorces

Life After Marriage

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Feeding the Rat is the story of an extraordinary man: climbing legend Mo Anthoine, who found his greatet joy in adventures that tested the far limits of human endurance. That passion for "feeding the rat" made him the unsung hero of dozens of horrifying epics in the mountains, including the famous ogre expedition that nearly killed Doug Scott and sir Chris Bonington. The book is also the story of the extraordinary friendship between Mo and adrenaline junky Al Alvarez - the distinguished poet, journalist and critic - whose deeply moving portrait of his longtim climbing partner is a classic of adventure literature.

Feeding the Rat: Profile of a Climber

Biographies & Memoirs

The Atlantic Monthly Press

Alvarez combines detailed personal reminiscence, candid self-appraisal, close scientific observation, literary scholarship, & natural description to produce a most enlightening & enjoyable rumination on the subject of darkness, dreams, & night-dwellers animal & human, hallucinatory & real. This is a meditation or rumination on the dark, elegantly written & packed with out-of-the-way information. Chapters: the dark at the top of the stairs; the sleep laboratory; dreaming; the interpretation of dreams; a note on chaos theory; hypnagogic hallucinations; & the Brownies; Surrealism; keeping the peace; & night owls. Illustrated.

Religion & Spirituality

Diane Pub Co.

With its combined elements of skill, chance, & courage, poker was destined to become the game of choice in casinos & back rooms everywhere. Alvarez narrates the history of the pastime that millions of people enjoy, relating its most amazing stories, unforgettable players, & incredible hands. From the first great marathon that lasted for five months straight, to the recent World Series of Poker, he captures a subculture rich with legend. A witty text & lavish array of poker-inspired art, advertisements, movie stills, photos, & decorated playing cards, chips, & markers illustrate the colorful evolution of the game that¿s taught generations how to outsmart their opponents, bluff their way to riches, & never give a sucker an even break.

Poker: Bets, Bluffs and Bad Beats

Chronicle Books+

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Books by A. Alvarez