BAD BET ON THE BAYOU; THE RISE OF GAMBLING IN LOUISIANA AND THE FALL OF GOVERNOR EDWIN EDWARDS.

Bridges, Tyler. [Edwin W. Edwards, 1927-2021.]

ISBN 10: 0374108307 / ISBN 13: 9780374108304

Published by New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2001., 2001

About this Item

First edition (as stated upon copyright page) SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR. [10], 422 pages. Hardcover: H 23.5cm x L 15.75cm. No dust jacket (i.e. lacking). Blue spine with vertical crease and light scuffing at ends; red boards with bottom fore-edge corners bumped/scuffed. Slight soiling to text block's top and bottom edge. Author's black ink scrawled signature "Tyler Bridges" on half-title page; past owner's ink signature at top of front flyleaf (a former congressional employee); interior leaves are otherwise clean. Binding is firm. Laid-in at front endpapers is an invitation (within its mailing envelope) to Congressman Robert Livingston to for a July 14, 2001 New Orleans event on behalf of the French consulate. Laid-in at rear endpapers is a folded sheet of United States Representative Robert L. Livingston's congressional office stationery evidencing the book's provenance (book was acquired from his October 2019 house sale in Alexandria, Virginia). Republican Bob Livingston served as U.S. Representative from Louisiana's 1st District from 1977 to 1999 and chaired the House Appropriations Committee from 1995 to 1999 as well as being House Speaker-designate before his resignation from office. ISBN 0374108307.

Seller Inventory # CVA-01125

Bibliographic Details

• Title: BAD BET ON THE BAYOU; THE RISE OF GAMBLING IN LOUISIANA AND THE FALL OF GOVERNOR EDWIN EDWARDS.
• Publisher: New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2001.
• Publication Date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0374108307
• ISBN 13: 9780374108304
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Seller catalogs:
  • Americana-Regional

About this title

Synopsis

An outrageous tale of fast cash, dirty politics, and extravagant greed in the Bayou State.

Louisiana is our most exotic state. It is religious and roguish, a place populated by Cajuns, Creoles, rednecks, and Bible-thumpers. It is a state that loves good food, good music, and good times. Laissez les bon temps rouler -- let the good times roll -- is the unofficial motto. Louisiana is also excessively corrupt.In the 1990s, it plunged headlong into legalized gambling, authorizing more games of chance than any other state. Leading the charge was Governor Edwin Edwards, who for years had flaunted his fondness for cold cash and high-stakes gambling, and who had used his razor-sharp mind and catlike reflexes to stay one step ahead of the law. Gambling, Edwin Edwards, and Louisiana's political culture would prove to be a combustible mix.

Bad Bet on the Bayou tells the story of what happened when the most corrupt industry came to our most corrupt state. It is a sweeping morality tale about commerce, politics, and what happens when the law catches up to the most basic human desires and frailties.

About the Author

Tyler Bridges is a reporter for The Miami Herald, where he was part of a team that won the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting. He covered the 1990s legalization of gambling in Louisiana as a reporter for The Times-Picayune of New Orleans.