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.
"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 McManus is
poker's most eloquent advocate." --Anthony Holden, author of Big
Deal, Bigger Deal and Holden on Hold'em "Mr. McManus writes about
our American love of poker like James A. Michener describing the
Plains Indians' discovery of the buffalo: 'Wait a second . . . I
can eat it, wear it, make it into a drum . . . There's nothing I
can't do with this sonofabitch.' I would throw in 'A joy for poker
players and non-players alike, ' but, of the second group, who
cares what they read--and I don't think there are enough of them to
affect Mr. McManus's royalties." --David Mamet "Poker now has what
must surely be its definitive history in this excellent,
comprehensive account of the game from the author of the widely
hailed poker memoir Positively Fifth Street. In tracing the game
from its early 19th-century roots in New Orleans to today's global
phenomenon, McManus does more than present a history of poker: 'My
goal is to show how the story of poker helps to explain who we
are.' The 'national card game, ' he asserts, embodies essential
American qualities. It's an ambitious objective, but the book
achieves it by connecting the game to American culture. Poker, it
turns out, is inextricably linked with history, from the Civil War
to the cold war, and with politics . . . The book also outlines the
re-emergence of poker in recent years as a pastime for many
millions and, for a select few, a reasonably legitimate
profession." --Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Before the burst
of a million online geniuses, James McManus was already writing the
best material on poker, and Cowboys Full proves that nothing's
changed. A must-read!" --Antonio Esfandiari, professional poker
player "McManus writes with verve and knowledge. . . .
Entertaining, informative and genial . . . a copious, lively
account of poker's past and present." --Robert Pinsky, The New York
Times Book Review "A captivating history of [poker] from a writer
who happens to be one of its best players." --John McMurtrie, San
Francisco Chronicle "If there were a World Series of Poker Writing,
then James McManus just won the main event. It's not only that
McManus delivers the definitive history of the game with Cowboys
Full: The Story of Poker, it's that he's so entertaining doing it
that even non-pokeristas will get swept along for the ride."
--Rathe Miller, Philadelphia Inquirer "In his colossal new history
of the game, 'Cowboys Full, ' journalist James McManus casts the
old-fashioned game in a whole new light with insightful,
mesmerizing tales about its origins, the bizarre cast of historical
figures, underworld creatures and celebrity players who have played
it, and its lasting influence on politics, warfare and other
national spectacles." --Clayton Moore, Denver Post "Go all-in on
this one. . . Cowboys Full is loaded with colorful stories and even
more colorful characters, not all of whom played by the rules."
--Paste "McManus has a writer's eye for anecdotes and details that
bring the material to life. The book covers a lot of ground, but
thanks to McManus' particular blend of skills, it does so with
insight, clarity and credibility." --Jack Broom, Seattle Times "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 novelist." --Rick Kogan, Chicago
Tribune "Cowboys Full is a deal-me-in delight. Starting with a
sweeping survey of the history of the game and its role in American
culture, McManus ends with a smart, insiders' analysis of how poker
has been--and should be--played . . . Stuffed with anecdotes. . . .
Beyond its importance as a model and metaphor for American culture,
society, and politics, Cowboys Full demonstrates, poker is
fascinating in its own right." --Glenn C. Altschuler, Boston Globe
"A comprehensive history . . . McManus ties poker tightly to
American life--the presidents who used their regular game to
unwind, network, or test a man's mettle range from Honest Abe to
Barack Obama--and clearly relishes retelling tales of legendary
contests . . . He also discusses how televised tournaments and
Internet gaming continue to change the face of poker [and] spins a
lot of meticulous research into a fast-paced, entertaining
history." --Kathie Bergquist, Chicago Reader "McManus has done a
tremendous job. [He] is uniquely qualified to tell this tale . . .
A lot of research clearly went into the book, but it reads
effortlessly, as if the author is spinning versions of oft-told
yarns from memory. It weaves in and out of luxury mansions,
backrooms of saloons, kitchen tables in middle-class suburbs and
modern tournaments without missing a beat . . . It is a story of
high mathematics and low-down dirty deeds, of proud men humbled and
humble men grown rich, of a simple game you can learn in an hour,
but not master in a lifetime." --Aaron Brown, Poker Pro "The most
exhaustive and definitive account of the history of poker . . .
McManus is an excellent stylist and storyteller, so the book is
unfailingly entertaining. . . Read Cowboys Full to understand how
this golden age came about--and to grasp that poker does have a
meaning beyond the felt." --Tim Peters, Card Player "A witty and
insightful book masterfully blending history, politics and strategy
to produce an excellent definitive historical guide to the
'national card game.'" --Online Poker News "Takes the reader on a
journey through poker history, and helps him appreciate how we have
arrived at where we are . . . Fascinating reading." --LaunchPoker
"Offers up a colorful history of the game--and comes up aces."
--Hemispheres "A poet and novelist, McManus revels in the language
of the game . . . whose long, colorful history in the U.S. comes to
life through [his] research and narrative wit. McManus knows the
green-felt world, having entered the World Series of Poker in 2000
while researching a magazine article. He finished fifth and
produced a classic book in Positively Fifth Street. . . With its
detailed history and 87 pages of notes, glossary and index, Cowboys
Full manages to be authoritative and entertaining. The book closes
with a look at the global explosion of Internet poker, the
electronic fraud that quickly emerged with it and the U.S.
legislative efforts to ban or rein in Web gambling--efforts that
McManus convincingly portrays as uncommonly wrongheaded even by
Washington standards." --Jeffrey Burke, Bloomberg News "A book that
describes, as well as any work ever written on the subject, how the
game has evolved from being a cheating game to a legitimate
enterprise over the course of the last 200 years. [McManus is] a
first-rate storyteller. His study of the way poker-inflected game
theory has influenced the thinking of some of our greatest military
minds, especially those who guided us through the Cold War, is
particularly fascinating . . . Aficionados will have a much better
understanding of [poker's] past thanks to Cowboys Full. McManus's
book promises to be the definitive work on the subject for years to
come." --Storms Reback, All-In "Passion is enlivening, and authors
who have it draw us in. We want it because without it we would be
angels, and no one, really, wants that. James McManus is passionate
about poker, not a game for angels but one once associated with sin
and played in murky rooms by rough men. [His] Cowboys Full is 516
pages of all things poker: history, trivia, strategy, analysis.
It's a compendium, an omnium-gatherum, an anecdotal encyclopedia of
poker. [He] shows its influence on every American war, the building
of the great cities, the settlement of the West, politics and the
election of presidents. [It] teaches us like no other game can how
to survive in life, maybe even win more than we lose." --Tom Dodge,
Dallas Morning News "The epic story of how poker has grown from
disreputable roots to become America's--and the world's--game.
Poker journalist McManus follows up his bestselling memoir
Positively Fifth Street (2003) with a comprehensively structured
history of the game. He argues that the complexities of poker lend
a uniquely intricate American metaphor for many aspects of society,
from the codes of the antebellum South to the frontiers of
Artificial Intelligence. Fittingly, he begins by observing that the
leader of the free world prides himself on being "a pretty good
poker player." In fact, President Obama is the latest in a long
line of presidents who "have used the card game to relax with
friends, extend their network of colleagues, or even deploy its
tactics and psychology in their role as commander in chief." This
line of discussion is typical of McManus's arguments for poker's
metaphorical or talismanic status in society--essentially, that a
majority of powerful, driven people have incorporated it into their
lives. The author first explains how the game gradually
evolved--often covertly--in multiple cultures over hundreds of
years. It was first known as poque and "pokuh," and came into its
own on the Mississippi steamboats of the early 19th century, among
soldiers in the Civil War and on Western ranches. McManus also
highlights some fascinating classic cheating methods, surely for
entertainment purposes only--especially since these techniques
would require more skill to pull off than honest play. The game's
outlaw status began to fade around the turn of the 20th century
(Theodore Roosevelt was one high-profile fan), the author writes,
and he alternates discussions of cultural phenomena in which poker
plays a part with explorations of how the game became less crooked
and more streamlined and difficult. This resulted in the
development of the now-famous World Series of Poker. These
suspenseful chapters on contemporary poker play--McManus asserts
mathematical professionalism has replaced the "sharps" of old--may
be difficult for neophytes to follow, but the author provides a
helpful glossary.
A satisfying, useful overview--given poker's popularity, this is
sure to be a prominent book this holiday season." --Kirkus Reviews
"A satisfying, useful overview--given poker's popularity, this is
sure to be a prominent book this holiday season." --Kirkus Reviews
Ask a Question About this Product More... |