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Fool Me Once: Hustlers, Hookers, Headliners, and How Not to Get Screwed in Vegas [Paperback]

Rick Lax
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)

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Book Description

January 4, 2011

Rick Lax was paranoid to begin with. He saw lies everywhere. And when he saw them, he spoke up. But when his girlfriend gets conned by a violent drug dealer, nothing Rick does seems to help. So what if he misses the next lie? What if spotting them isn’t enough to protect against them? What if exposing lies puts him in even more danger?

Terrified of being conned himself, Rick bolts for Vegas, deception capital of the world, to learn the game and how to guard against it. Rick meets deceivers of all kinds, from back-alley hustlers and poker pros to the biggest headliners on the Strip. During the course of his unconventional education, which includes passing himself off as an octogenarian, being exposed as a card counter, and picking up a hooker (inadvertently, of course), Rick gets closer to becoming a human lie detector…but at what cost?

By the end of Fool Me Once, you’ll know why seventh graders make better liars than college students, how to use a handful of rice as a polygraph, and how to bluff a poker pro. But above all, you’ll understand why some things in life are a lot worse than being fooled.

 


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Product Details

  • Paperback: 304 pages
  • Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (January 4, 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0312545703
  • ISBN-13: 978-0312545703
  • Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #181,010 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Advance Praise for Fool Me Once

“It's a book that makes you want to move to Vegas… This book should be on your poolside reading list. The next time you need a book that is fun, helps you have a good time and requires no emotional attachment, Fool Me Once is what you are looking for.”
--NYDailyNews.com

“Lax succeeds at taking readers into the Vegas singles/club world in a way that is funny, illuminating and self-effacing… Fool Me Once marks real growth for Lax.”
--Las Vegas Weekly

Fool Me Once is filled with entertaining stories about Lax finding a roommate (Oxana, a Russian dancer), learning how to get past choosy bouncers, hanging out with magicians, and discussing tips on picking up women from a master pickup artist.”
--Vegas Seven

“An oddly addicting read… With his background in magic and law, and his journalistic curiosity, Lax is well-equipped to pierce the illusions that make up the Las Vegas façade.”
--Las Vegas CityLife

“Rick Lax embedded himself with Vegas’s most notorious magicians, call girls, and wheeler-dealers and emerged with a funny and fascinating cautionary tale for the rest of us. Anyone who’s ever been scammed, bluffed, or lied to should read Fool Me Once.”
---Kevin Roose, author of The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University

“In a city where nothing is quite what it seems, Rick Lax introduces us to the showgirls, prostitutes, casino card counters, magicians, pickup artists, and street hustlers who work their short cons under the bright lights of the Las Vegas Strip. Fool Me Once is an illuminating read and terrific fun.”
---David Grazian, author of On the Make: The Hustle of Urban Nightlife

“Plenty of cons and cheap hustles in this lively memoir of time spent on the seamier edge of Casinoland… An entertaining field guide to vice, but also one with a point—if you’re headed anywhere near the Strip, watch your wallet.”
---Kirkus Reviews

"Set in Las Vegas and incorporating a cast of characters including strippers, Criss Angel, bartenders, and Lance Burton, in the broadest sense, Fool Me Once is a funny, engaging, and personal discourse on deception in all its forms, magic tricks included."
--Magic

"Rick Lax has written a wry, laugh-out-loud love letter to the world of deception."
---Jim Steinmeyer, author of Art and Artifice: And Other Essays of Illusion

Praise for Lawyer Boy

“A hilarious memoir.”
---Las Vegas Review-Journal

“First-time author Lax delivers an entertaining and sometimes zany look at the first year of law school… Lax's discoveries of what he didn't expect offer fascinating up-to-date insights.”
---Publishers Weekly

“I'll be buying his books for a long time to come.”
---A.J. Jacobs, author of The Year of Living Biblically and The Know-It-All

 

About the Author

Rick Lax, author of Lawyer Boy, is not only a staff writer at Las Vegas Weekly, but he can get from his front door to the Wynn poker room in twelve minutes flat.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 304 pages
  • Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (January 4, 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0312545703
  • ISBN-13: 978-0312545703
  • Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #181,010 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

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Customer Reviews

3.7 out of 5 stars
(23)
3.7 out of 5 stars
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars If You Love Vegas... May 23, 2011
By Max922
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Lax's account of his years in Vegas is great for readers who want a behind the scenes look at the City of Sin. From magic tricks to prostitution, Lax covers it all via a framework of deception (that being his theme throughout). It's a fast read, but really interesting; it's filled with things you may never have known otherwise. He doesn't dumb things down but also explains terms that maybe some of us may not know (e.g. I learned what a slipknot was in the world of bartending). I think you really need to at least like Vegas to enjoy this book, but again the theme is deception so even if you don't there is something to be learned. I enjoyed the footnotes--some funny--but some with valuable insights from sociologists and psychologists on lying and deception.
I hate when authors try to be funny and they aren't--Lax is not one of those authors. He is genuinely entertaining and tells a wicked story.
I read it in one day.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars It was great! June 5, 2011
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I enjoy reading books on Vegas so when I saw this book on the Kindle I decided to take a chance and it was great. I actually read the book on a flight to Vegas so the book was a little more intriguing for me. The interviews and stories he shared about hookers/escorts/models were pretty fascinating and plus any guy that can go to Vegas with his mom and strike up a conversation with a hooker is pretty sweet. If you like books on Vegas you'll enjoy this.
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By Ted
Format:Paperback
I picked up Fool Me Once by Rick Lax yesterday when it was released and it was so good I finished it in one night. I've been planning on purchasing this book since the author announced it. He writes for a local Las Vegas publication Las Vegas Weekly and I greatly enjoy his articles, so I assumed his book would be just as enjoyable.

Surpassing my expectations, its even more enjoyable. The book is primarily about deception and its several forms, from magic to prostitutes, as told through the eyes of the author, Rick Lax.

Every chapter is filled with hilarious and sometimes, kinda sad, events and interactions with a wide variety of people that all use deception in some form or another. They are always hilarious, and always enlightening. I laughed out loud several times while reading.

Rick Lax's perspective on the events in the book are intelligent and thought provoking. I definitely will be thinking about this book every time I have a conversation with someone new in this city (Vegas if you have figured out I live here yet).
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars fool me once January 13, 2013
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I really tried to get through it but could not. It really boring. It was hard to understand what was happening. My adventures in las vegas are more exciting!
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Characters are great but they don't sing . January 1, 2013
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Rick has perfect subjects but lacks style. He needs to read some Damond Runyand and Raymond Chandler to make his characters come alive. If he does that he'll get movie offers and best seller awards. Sorry Rick . From another JD who hopes to meet you some day. TOM N.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars It Was All Right January 5, 2012
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Thought it'd be a great book, but the author was a little too focused chasing skirt and too obsessed with magic for my tastes. Too little storytelling, too much borrowing from other books to get me interested in it.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars just an ok book... May 4, 2011
Format:Paperback
this has some funny parts, but it is just the writings of one person. anyone could have done the same thing ans written the same book.

not that it is a bad book, but i really did not find it that interesting, compelling, or provide deep insight into any of the characters in the book.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Fool Me Once does NOT apply to this book. May 3, 2011
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book was fun. It kept me engrossed over a weekend. That is quite a feat since I tend not to start, much less finish books. Rick tells a good story with a wry sense of humor blended throughout. Since he writes for a local paper I am hoping he can put together a collection of stories from his column for his next book.

Well done!
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