Juxtaposing the thuggish worlds of bookies and privileged ivy leaguers, this hilarious study of unfettered machismo takes a perceptive look into a young, donw-on-his-luck Harvard graducate who joins a bookmaking operations while he tries to pull his life together.

Confessions of an Ivy League Bookie

Humor & Entertainment

Alson, Peter

Humor

Random House Value Publishing

Juxtaposing the thuggish worlds of bookies and privileged ivy leaguers, this hilarious study of unfettered machismo takes a perceptive look into a young, donw-on-his-luck Harvard graducate who joins a bookmaking operations while he tries to pull his life together.

Confessions of an Ivy League Bookie: A True Tale of Love and the Vig

Crown

An overeducated underachiever, Peter Alson spent his post-college decades doing his best not to grow up. But having just turned fifty, this rambling-gambling bachelor decides it's time to settle down. So he pops the question to his longtime girlfriend, then hatches a plan to pay for their wedding -- involving poker and a trip to Las Vegas. Boarding a plane bound for the neon desert and the biggest game in town -- the 2005 World Series of Poker -- this inveterate gambler and bad boy stares down his past and his future while competing for over $56 million in prize money. Take Me to the River is a hilarious, wrenching, full-tilt Vegas exploration of one man's obsession with poker and the lessons it has to offer -- about probability and luck, good fortune and bad, patience, perseverance, and -- most fitting for a man with marriage in his near future -- commitment.

Take Me to the River: A Wayward and Perilous Journey to the World Series of Poker

Biographies & Memoirs

Professionals & Academics

Atria

Now in paperback comes the first and authorized biography of Stuey Ungar, the greatest card player of all time, who was backed by the Mob in New York before moving to Las Vegas where he won the World Series of Poker three times, then died mysteriously in a seedy motel on the Vegas strip at the age of 45. He was the Jim Morrison of the casino, a legend before he was of legal age. Stuey Ungar, the son of a Jewish bookie on Manhattan's Lower East Side, dropped out of high school to become an underground card-table sensation, eventually taking out every top gin-rummy player on the East Coast. Bankrolled by the Genovese crime family, Stuey would soon travel around the country in search of new opponents and opportunities—including poker. He would go on to win the World Series of Poker a record three times. And then his luck began to run out. One of a Kind is the startling tale of a man who won at his game and lost control of his life. Whether tossing away his winnings at the racetrack or on a single roll of the dice, Stuey was notorious for gambling every single dollar in his pocket. Though he had won an estimated $30 million in his lifetime, Stuey had no bank account, not even a home address. He was found dead in a Vegas motel—with $800 in cash on his person, the only money he had left—at the age of forty-five. An intimate, authorized biography—Nolan Dalla was commissioned by Stuey in 1998 to pen his story, resulting in hundreds of hours of taped interviews and conversations—One of a Kind illuminates the dark genius of one of poker's most memorable figures.

One of a Kind: The Rise and Fall of Stuey ',The Kid', Ungar, The World's Greatest Poker Player

Dalla, Nolan

Arts & Literature

Atria Books

The Man Behind the Shades: The Rise and Fall of Poker's Greatest Player: The Rise and Fall of Stuey 'The Kid' Ungar, Poker's Greatest Player

Since his first trip from Paris to San Francisco in 1972, Fanch Ledan has been the quintessential Franco-American man. Fluent in both languages, he travels frequently and blends into both cultures with equal aplomb.  From his Paris studio he can see the Eiffel Tower, the Seine, and the boulevards that were the earliest inspirations for his work. "I doubt I'll ever stop painting those magnificent bridges," he says. But ever the realist as well, this Frenchman knows that his French naïf palette and style is now more popular in Japan and the U.S. than in his native France. So Fanch maintains a home and studio in California, where he lives most of the year with his wife and young son.  Like few artists his age, Fanch Ledan has made it his habit as well as his pleasure to criss-cross the globe in search of new material, new ideas, and new places to paint. As a result, he is today one of the most widely exhibited and published artists on the contemporary art scene.  The works of Fanch Ledan, painter and printmaker, have been exhibited in more countries than well-known artists twice his age. His art has engaged and entertained millions of people from Tokyo to London, Sydney to New York, Atlanta to the French Riviera. His paintings, serigraphs, lithographs, calendars, posters and greeting cards have already been published and distributed on four continents. Now, with the publication of this book he adds a new dimension to his list of credits.  The Collected Works of Fanch Ledan is the first authorized compilation of the artist's work, from the early 1970's paintings on canvas, through images and limited editions up to the date of publication in 1990.  Representing all aspects of his work, these 168 pages of duotone plates and 205 beautiful color reproductions, with biography and text in English and French, serve as a retrospective of original works and as a catalogue raisonné for most of Fanch's best loved limited edition prints.

The Collected Works of Fanch Ledan: Catalogue Raisonne

Literature & Fiction

Classics

Blinder Fine Arts

Review "Here is the poker novel I've been waiting years for someone to write. It doesn't just feel true. It is." --Brian Koppelman, co-writer of Rounders and Billions"It's like a sequel to Walker Percy's The Moviegoer--with poker as a stand-in for movies, and the protagonist now having married and become a father. I started reading, couldn't stop." - Tom Beller, author of J.D. Salinger: The Escape Artist" What a ride! I have to confess sometimes the anxiety was so great I had to put the book down and build up my courage before I could pick it up again. But I was so glad I did and was bereft when the book ended--sad to be off this roller coaster ride through the world of live-or-die high-stakes poker and marriage."--Beverly Donofrio, author of Riding in Cars with Boys and Astonished. "Captures the underground New York poker scene down to the grime on the chips."-- Matt Matros, three-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner"Here is some of the tightest and most intense writing I've ever read about the psychology and terror of high stakes poker. 'The Only Way To Play It' is about love, and family, but it's also about luck. Peter Alson has had a lifetime of ups and downs around the poker table, and puts these moments to use in a novel that sings." - Matthew Klam, author of Who Is Rich? "The experience of reading The Only Way To Play It is like being in the middle of a high-voltage poker hand in which the pot keeps getting bigger and each new card seems to change everything--it's well deserving of a seat at the short-handed table of great poker novels." - Martin Harris, author of Poker and Pop Culture"This is the story that Rounders wished it could've been. In fact, it's among the best gambling novels we've ever read...Don't try turning these pages just before going to bed. The extraordinary tension of high stakes poker will have you tossing and turning for hours...We can't recommend The Only Way To Play It highly enough!" -- The Las Vegas Advisor"The Only Way To Play It raises the poker fiction stakes. Alson gives the reader much to consider regarding how the decisions we make affect our futures, and how much luck ultimately determines where we end up." -- PokerStars Blog "Excellent...Allows readers an inside glimpse into what it's like to be a [professional] poker player." -- Poker News Product Description Nate Fischer has been grinding out a living in New York's underground poker clubs. A decade ago, as a young painter, it seemed like the perfect way to pay the bills. Now he's hit a cold streak. His once-promising art career is in freefall. His wife's flirting with a dashing book editor. And his ex-con father's problems are becoming his own. On any given night, a bad beat could mean the collapse of his house-of-cards life.Just as it looks like he's about to turn it all around, his buddy is shot and killed right in front of him, and the cops padlock every poker club in the city. For Nate's wife, this is the last straw. She wants him out. Forced to move into his tiny painting studio, Nate struggles to rebuild from the ashes. Ironically, it is his deadbeat dad who shows him the way and is there for Nate when he puts everything on the line and takes the biggest gamble of his life.

The Only Way To Play It

Genre Fiction

Arbitrary Press

Nate Fischer has been grinding out a living playing poker in the crucible of New York's underground gambling world. A decade ago, as a young painter, it seemed like the perfect way to pay the bills. Now he's hit a cold streak. He's running bad at the poker table. His once-promising art career is in freefall. His wife's having an affair with a dashing book editor. And increasingly, his ex-con father's problems are becoming his own. On any given night, a bad beat could mean the collapse of his house-of-cards life: pre-school tuition, rent, and the family he loves. Just as it looks like he's about to turn it all around, his buddy is shot and killed right in front of him, and the cops padlock every poker club in the city. For Nate's wife, this is the last straw. She decides she needs a break from the marriage, and Nate is forced to move into his tiny painting studio. Making matters worse, his deadbeat dad is evicted from his apartment, and Nate finds himself taking in the one guy who knows exactly where this kind of story ends - and the one least likely to help him figure a way out. Nate's struggle to rebuild his life will take him from the wild west of internet poker to the shady Russian enclaves of Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, to the ultra-exclusive art auctions of elite Manhattan galleries, but in the end it is his father, revealing a side of himself that Nate has never seen, from whom Nate learns what it means to put everything on the line in the interest of love and loyalty. In this age of insecurity, Nate Fischer is a good-hearted man caught between an addictive passion for playing the odds versus a fierce desire to provide for his family and live life on his own terms. With themes that resonate-fathers and sons, the money chase, parenthood, and the fragility of marriage - The Only Way to Play It is a classic and painfully relevant tale of love, loss and redemption.

The Only Way To Play It: A Novel

Puzzles & Games

As both observer and participant in these essays and stories, Peter Alson takes on fathers and sons, Wiffleball, bounty hunting, ice golf in Alaska, the World Series of Poker, and the Great American Novel. He goes road tripping down the bluest of highways, crashes a regular guy's wedding, and meditates, more darkly, on the kind of desperation that would drive someone to kill their spouse. Whether he's writing about hustlers, strivers, killers, conmen, storytellers, or simply the challenges of taking the road less traveled, Alson is always engaging, his prose sharp, clean, and self-assured.

Game Ball: and Other Essays

True Crime

This is an engaging true life memoir of a Ha rvard-educated yuppie down on his luck. It covers the year o f his life when he gets into illegal Mob-led New York bookma king. '

Fourth Estate Ltd.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Alson, Peter. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Alson, Peter

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Alson, Peter. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Confessions of an Ivy League Bookie

Confessions of an Ivy League Bookie: A True Tale of Love and the Vig

Take Me to the River: A Wayward and Perilous Journey to the World Series of Poker

One of a Kind: The Rise and Fall of Stuey ',The Kid', Ungar, The World's Greatest Poker Player

The Man Behind the Shades: The Rise and Fall of Poker's Greatest Player: The Rise and Fall of Stuey 'The Kid' Ungar, Poker's Greatest Player

The Collected Works of Fanch Ledan: Catalogue Raisonne

The Only Way To Play It

The Only Way To Play It: A Novel

Game Ball: and Other Essays

Confessions of an Ivy League Bookie