The Noble Hustle/Colson Whitehead

The Noble Hustle: Poker, Beef Jerky and Death (Doubleday), Colson Whitehead

Borne from an assignment to cover the World Series of Poker's Main Event for Grantland magazine in 2011, Colson Whitehead's "The Noble Hustle" is not quite an epic tale. Whitehead is best known for his novels  (The Intuitionist, Sag Harbor, Zone One) and his fans will enjoy his ruminations on poker, from tales of  cheap home games to Atlantic City's card rooms to the larger-than-life WSOP. (Whitehead accepted the $10,000 entry fee to the tournament as payment for his work).

Whitehead's prose, as usual, is malleable, at times graceful, at other points rough-hewn and simple. He's so good at his craft he gets away with dashing off lines like "Because I was in AC [Atlantic City], Vegas's little cousin ... ". But when he's on, he's inimitable. His descriptions of the New Jersey casinos are often brilliant, particularly this take on the soon-to-be defunct Showboat:

The '50s-themed Johnny Rockets burger joint reminded boomers of sock hops, roller-skating waitstaff, the first backseat gropings. The House of Blues served up rootsy sentimentality, reminiscences of swell nights in blues franchises in New Orleans, Houston, San Diego. (Remember those two sloppy German matrons? Too bad we had to get up early the next day for the ConAgra convention). ... The piped in Nirvana and Pixes -- now officially oldies bands -- welcomed middle-aged, Gen X lumps like me. The sights and sounds of bygone days told us everything was still possible, the way the snap of a dealer cutting cards and the maddening chimes of loose slots assured us we could be winners. That sure, gambling sound of promise.

Whitehead also nails the players, from the middle-aged men seeking a diversion while their wives are playing roulette to the new breed of cards sharps. According to one observer these newbies are  "` ... young players four-betting, with nothing. Five betting.' He said young players the way World War II grunts used to say Hun bastards."

At one point in the narrative Whitehead jumps forward in time by a year to the 2012 WSOP Main Event. This smacks a little of desperation, as if his own story wasn't enough, and it wrecks the momentum of the narrative.

But only a little. It's not spoiling anything to say Whitehead doesn't win the whole thing. Very few players ever cash out. For those poker players who have harbored grandiose dreams but fell short, "The Noble Hustle" is a worthy companion.