The Hustler [Paperback]

Walter Tevis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1986

To Fast Eddie Felsen, a young pool hustler, there was only one thing that mattered: to make the big time and the big money in the world of pool by beating the best in the country. Hustling suckers in small towns for good stake money was practice for his goal and when he felt ready he went to Bennington's pool hall in Chicago to look for Minnesota Fats. Eddie and Fats pit nerve against skill in a fantastic match over an unbroken thirty-six hours. This contest shows Eddie some things he did not know about guts, stamina and 'character' - the difference between winners and losers, and it proves a hard and painful lesson to learn. It takes an interlude with Sarah, an alcoholic student and a born loser, to give the lesson meaning, and the shrewd advice and backing of Bert, a professional gambler, to put it into practice. Bert knows that talent without character is nothing and stakes Eddie to a climactic return match for all or nothing. When it is over, Eddie knows a great deal more about big-time pool, about money, and about himself. In beating Fats he has become the best in the country.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This is a compact, tidy novel. Its setting is the world of big time professional pool players,- hustlers, and its hero is Fast Eddie Felson, 25, a good looking, quietly dressed, pleasant young man with bright eyes, whose appearance is part of the successful "hustle" because it's not wholly false. Eddie and his mentor, Charlie, had left Oakland for Chicago and their trip had been lucrative although relatively small time. Eddie felt that he was ready for Chicago and Minnesota Fats - the best pool player in the country whose arena was Chicago's Bennington's where the business was pool and nothing else. Eddie played Minnesota fats at a thousand a game for forty straight hours and he lost. Broke, he becomes involved with Sarah, a student and a drinker, whom he recognizes as a born loser, and with the calculating Bert, a professional gambler who takes Eddie in hand and teaches him that there is more to the game (of life) than talent. By the time of his return match with Fats, Eddie has achieved a superiority over his opponent: he knows that who wins and who loses is important and that in the clutch, character and not skill is what counts. But in a showdown with Bert, Eddie learns something else: that you can't win them all. Through a language of casual statement which does not disguise the seriousness of its intent, this exploration of moral experience is a pithy and competent performance. (Kirkus Reviews) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Walter Tevis (1928-1984) was an American novelist and short-story writer. He is best known for his novels The Hustler and The Man Who Fell to Earth which were adapted for film. He wrote three more novels -- Mockingbird, The Steps of the Sun and The Queen's Gambit - and a collection of short stories, Far From Home. He died in 1984. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 204 pages
• Publisher: Warner Books (October 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446344389
• ISBN-13: 978-0446344388
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,441,311 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Underappreciated work of literature, July 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Hustler (Hardcover)

If art forces the participant to see reality from an unexpected point of view, or if art takes a generally accepted point of view and sharpens the edges with a light that is so bright that it is almost painful, then "The Hustler" is not just a work of art but a compelling tour de force of astounding power. "The Hustler" is not about pool players, but about how we look at life, how we make the simplest decisions. What is an acceptable performance? In our jobs? With our relationships? What compromises should we make? Must we make? How do we look at ourselves? Why and how do we lie to ourselves?

"The Hustler" is a simple book, well crafted, elegantly written, with memorable characters and compelling situations. This is art at it's best. No pretensions, just a craftsman's use of time honored techniques that reinforce the message without intruding.

Tevis presents life's dilemmas plainly, tells us what is unacceptable, makes us self-satisfied, then like all great artists, presents a little more complex dilemma, then asks us to make the choice again. Except it's not so easy this time...

Reading "The Hustler" should be a rite of passage for any person that feels every decision we make, or don't make, is important. A must read.

On a more personal level, I met Walter Tevis in a room called Hanger's in Pittsburgh in the early 60's. I was about 15, an unusual combination of voracious reader and aspiring 9 ball player. He told me I had a talent, that he loved the game, that he was addicted to it and its characters. He also told me he was a writer. I didn't know who he was at the time and we didn't do anything more than pass a pleasant 10 or 20 minutes. I saw the movie later, loved it, was a little too young and callow to appreciate it as much as I should have. The book has been out of print and difficult to find; I'm embarrassed to say I just read it yesterday for the first time. Let me just say it not only asks questions, but the right questions. I know, I've been trying to answer them for 35 years. Walter wherever you are, (and I believe you died a few years back), thank you.

PS: Walter played pool and wasn't bad, what we'd call a good local player.

PPS: The Minnesota Fats, (real name: Rudolph Wanderone)you all saw on TV wasn't the real Fats. The real Fats wasn't a jerk and a 2 bit hustler with a good agent. But that's another story.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tevis' most acclaimed work; stunning character development., June 30, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Hustler (Hardcover)

Surely Walter Tevis' strongest novel, "The Hustler" explores the timeless struggle of man against himself, against a backdrop of gray, decaying, post-war billiard rooms and characters on the edge of society's moral perimeter. In a world of illegal billiard gambling, where matchups between road players is a winner-take-all proposition, Tevis shows us that winning can weigh heavy on a man's soul, and is lonelier by far than joining the always-populated ranks of the lost and defeated.

Tevis introduces us to "Fast Eddie" Felson, an extraordinarily gifted pool hustler with a penchant for bourbon - J.T.S. Brown - and for high stakes action. Loosely modeled after billiard master Willie Mosconi, Tevis' "Fast Eddie" takes on "Minnesota Fats" (at the time, a fictional character, who's identity real-lfe pool huster Rudolph Wanderone later assumed) in a series of thousand dollar a game matches. It is a competition that changes both his life and that of the woman he enlists in his struggle against the demons within.

"The Hustler" remains one of only two books - "The Color of Money" being the other - to truly capture the intensity and excitement of professional high-stakes pool without excessive moralizing.

The movie version of The Hustler, released in 1961 and produced by Robert Rossen, starred Paul Newman as Fast Eddie, Piper Laurie as Eddie's femme fatale, and George C. Scott as Eddie's deadly effective but morally bankrupt instructor on the ways of big money pool.
Nominated for several academy awards, the movie, like Fast Eddie, had the misfortune of bad timing and an unwinnable matchup: "West Side Story" swept the awards and relegated Tevis' story to cult classic status.

Sure, rent the movie... but buy the book. The plot differs from the movie in one critical aspect, which I will leave the reader to discover..

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Psychological Study of Winning and Losing, February 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Hustler (Hardcover)

More than a story about pool players (although the inside look at the green felt world is fascinating), this is a perceptive study of how we talk ourselves into losing because it's much easier than paying the price to win. Beautifully written with numerous memorable characters, far superior to the movie, this is one novel you'll never forget.