Dust jacket by Paul Bacon. 14th book from the author of the Shaft series about poker players in the 1920's.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Seller: Smokey, York, NE, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Fair. 1st Edition. ABOUT THE WORLD OF PROFESSIONAL GAMBLING. Seller Inventory # ABE-1544634013362
Seller: Better World Books, Mishawaka, IN, U.S.A.
Condition: Good. 1st. Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages. Seller Inventory # 52473051-6
Seller: Top Notch Books, Tolar, TX, U.S.A.
Hard Cover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. Second Printing. Blue boards with black spinecover have only slight wear. Pages are clean, text has no markings, binding is sound. Size: 8vo - 7¾" - 9¾" Tall. Seller Inventory # 309036G
Seller: MURDER BY THE BOOK, Warwick, RI, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. First Edition. "Table Stakes was Ernest Tidyman's last novel (the factual Big Bucks being his last published work in 1982) and his most personal creative work in print, if not necessarily his best. Tidyman himself was an avid gambler and had also worked in film production since the early 1970s. Much of his knowledge of both is evident in the way he pieces together this moral drama. Tidyman gives all the main characters their own voice and allows them to breathe and as a result they feel real. Most of his characters are deeply flawed and selfish and the central father and son characters demonstrate this vividly despite their individual ideals. The novel is split into two books. the first, titled Desperado, deals with father, David Burnham, and his inability to break away from the gambling table to take a respectable job as well as devote time to his wife and son. He is successful at what he does and sees no reason to change his lifestyle. His loyalty to his gambling partners outweighs that to his family. Whilst he plays an honest and honourable game he finally loses his wife and son when he is drawn into one final Big Game. Later tragedy strikes and we move on a generation to the second book entitled Scenario. Scenario represents the final two-thirds of the novel and concentrates on son Paul who has returned injured from Vietnam. Paul looks to establish a new life for himself. An old friend of his father's Junior Gordon, owner of Gordon Film Studios gives him a job as production coordinator in a bid to provide his friend's son with an income, if little responsibility. When Paul teams up with Gordon's own son Bernard, who has self-destructive tendencies mirroring those of Keith Moon and the pair produce a screenplay resulting in a successful movie, Paul's star is on the rise. He at first seems loyal to his new girlfriend, but succumbs to the temptations offered to the rich and powerful and ultimately weds Junior Gordon's daughter the beautiful but vacuous Melody. All this begins to play like a soap opera on the scale that would later be served up on TV by Dallas or Dynasty and there is plenty of sexual activity to add spice to the story. But there is also depth to the moral messages Tidyman gets across on the themes of power, ambition, family and trust. The latter plays very heavily in the novel's final act in which Paul is torn between making the right decision for the business and his loyalty to his father-in-law. In the end it is evident that there can be no long-term winners and this is ultimately Tidyman's comment on gambling and the film industry in general. First edition, so stated. Front hinge cracked, else very good in lighty soiled and rubbed dust jacket. Ultimately his message is either your luck will run out or you will alienate those closest to you in your pursuit of success. He sees success as a self-feeding beast driven by ambition and greed that can only ultimately leave you feeling manipulated and totally alone. A depressing message, but one seeming to come from first-hand experience." -- Author Steven Aldous. Book. Seller Inventory # 021381
Seller: Cat's Curiosities, Pahrump, NV, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Boards resist opening past 80 degrees: unread. "First Edition" stated. Not price-clipped; original $8.95 price showing. Stamped "MD" to bottom page edges; meaning not known. Tidyman authored the "Shaft" series and wrote the screenplays for "The French Connection" (for which he won an Academy Award) and (from his own novel) "High Plains Drifter." Hollywood show-business fiction. 348 pp. Reduced from $27. Seller Inventory # 005522
Seller: J. Lawton, Booksellers, Readville, MA, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Very good condition. Dust Jacket Condition: good. First edition. 348pp. 22 cm. Seller Inventory # 35689
Seller: Robinson Street Books, IOBA, Binghamton, NY, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Prompt Shipment, shipped in Boxes, Tracking PROVIDEDVery good in Very good creased nicked dust jacket. First Edition. Seller Inventory # bing83910440
Seller: Black Dog Books, Emerson, NJ, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Included. Corners bumped, hinge starting, blind stamp else Vg/Vg. Review copy. 1st edition. Book. Seller Inventory # 003019
Seller: BOOK COLLECTORS GALLERY, SUMMER HILL, NSW, Australia
Cloth. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Good +. Second Printing. DJ NOT CLIPPED. Seller Inventory # 001964
Seller: Grendel Books, ABAA/ILAB, Springfield, MA, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. A novel. Stated first edition. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Seller Inventory # 103261