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A classic hardboiled tale of a beautiful talent for life in smoky poolrooms
‘A wonderful hymn to the last true era when men of substance played pool with a vengeance’ TIME OUT
‘This book sees the poetry of the pool game … Fast Eddie’s ascent up the ladder from pool shark to full-time hustler is the story of the will to power, told in cool fifties style’ GUARDIAN
Fast Eddie Felson has a reputation as a pool hustler to be feared, but his ambitions go far beyond taking small-town punks for a few bucks here and there. He has the talent to make big money, but he soon learns that it takes more than natural ability to become a real winner. He heads to Chicago to test himself against the legendary Minnesota Fats in more than forty-hours of high-stakes pool. Can he find the will to overcome his failings and fulfil his potential as the best there is?
‘A wonderful hymn to the last true era when men of substance played pool with a vengeance’ TIME OUT
‘This book sees the poetry of the pool game … Fast Eddie’s ascent up the ladder from pool shark to full-time hustler is the story of the will to power, told in cool fifties style’ GUARDIAN
Fast Eddie Felson has a reputation as a pool hustler to be feared, but his ambitions go far beyond taking small-town punks for a few bucks here and there. He has the talent to make big money, but he soon learns that it takes more than natural ability to become a real winner. He heads to Chicago to test himself against the legendary Minnesota Fats in more than forty-hours of high-stakes pool. Can he find the will to overcome his failings and fulfil his potential as the best there is?
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Reviews
A fine, swift, wanton, offbeat novel
If Hemingway had the passion for pool that he had for bullfighting, his hero might have been Eddie Felson
A wonderful hymn to the last true era when men of substance played pool with a vengeance
Tevis writes a stark, cut-down prose that admirably suits his tale of people who live on the edge of desperation in fifties Chicago
This book sees the poetry of the pool game . . . Fast Eddie's ascent up the ladder from pool shark to full-time hustler is the story of the will to power, told in cool fifties style