Stone Cold [Hardcover]

Pete Hautman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1998

When Denn joins a poker game in his neighborhood, he puts everything at stake-- his family, his friends, his girlfriend. With humor, insight, drama, and suspense, Pete Hautman looks at the world of high-stakes gambling and how one teenager tries to fit in.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Although this tale of a teenager's descent into the world of high-stakes poker lacks the labyrinthine yet crystal-clear plotting of Mr. Was, Hautman nonetheless holds a wild card in his hand. Denn has always been obsessed with money, but his life is otherwise normal. He has a thriving landscaping business and a longtime girlfriend. But both of these quickly disappear when Denn discovers poker. He moves from living-room games with a group of boozy tough kids to the $1000 tables at a local casino, in and out of Gamblers Anonymous and finally to a private game where the sky's the limit. The wild card is that Hautman does not turn this into a problem novel. Instead, it's the story of a boy who finds he has talent and works to develop it. Despite accusations of immorality and addiction, Denn sees himself as a child prodigy. He studies hard?identifying his opponents' "tells" and learning the odds for completing different hands?and he wins continuously. This bitter, almost amoral novel ends with Denn, at age 16, living alone and owning the casino. He struggles to explain the appeal of the game, why it's worth giving up his normal life: "Money and winning were important, sure, but they weren't what kept me awake at night. It was the action, the ebb and flow of fate, the expressions on the faces of the players, the sounds and smells of the casino. But most of all it was the cards." Swift and salacious, Hautman's latest compellingly echoes gambling's siren call. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up-Once Dennis Doyle, 15, discovers his talent for playing poker, he gives away his lawn-mowing business and abandons his formerly good relationships with his divorced mom, his best friend, his girlfriend, and a local priest-all victims of his obsession. Short, cleverly titled chapters realistically and frighteningly detail Denn's transformation during one intense summer from a likable, hard-working skateboarder into the calculating, successful poker player described by the title. Watching it happen, step by credible step, the only question is how it will play out. When Father Seamus coaxes Denn to attend a meeting of Gamblers Anonymous, will he see the light? Or will he continue down the desperate spiral that he sees his poker partners take? What does it profit a man to gain the whole world if he loses his own soul? Denn doesn't care to ask that question, as long as the cards keep coming. At book's end, he is the best. He wins the local restaurant where no-limit poker is played, displacing the King and inheriting his throne. Poker makes him rich, but readers will have no doubt that he has lost. Fast paced and powerfully delivered, this novel is as taut and suspenseful as a high-stakes game.
Joel Shoemaker, Southeast Jr. High School, Iowa City, IA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing; 1st edition (October 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689817592
• ISBN-13: 978-0689817595
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,742,334 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Okay, here's some miscellaneous personal info. I'll try to be as brief as possible. I was born in 1952 in Berkeley, California, or so I am told (I don't really remember). At age five I moved to St. Louis Park, Minnesota where I went to Cedar Manor Elementary School (also the alma mater of Al Franken and the Coen brothers, and no, they are not close personal friends of mine) and eventually graduated honor-free from St. Louis Park High School. This is so tedious. Why do you keep reading? For the next seven years I attended the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and the University of Minnesota. Contrary to recent news reports, I did not graduate from either institution. After college I worked various jobs for which I was ill-suited, including sign painter, graphic artist, marketing executive, pineapple slicer, etc. Eventually, having exhausted other options, I decided to write. My first novel, Drawing Dead, was published in 1993. Today, I live with mystery writer and poet Mary Logue in Golden Valley, Minnesota and Stockholm, Wisconsin. We have two small dogs (are you still reading?) named Rene and Jacques. There you have it. Fifty-plus years compressed into a few short paragraphs. Feel free to copy and paste for your book report, but don't tell anybody I suggested it. Need to know more? Check out the FAQs page on my website at http://www.petehautman.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All I can say is WOW!, May 25, 2000

By 

twilliam (Williamsburg, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stone Cold (Mass Market Paperback)

Everybody's good at something...and Denn has finally found out what he is good at...it's not soccer, playing the piano, or calculus...it's playing poker. Denn is so good he is winning thousands of dollars, buying expensive gift for his girlfriend and even cars, but his relationships with his friends, parents and his girl are becoming distant---cold. Denn is certainly raking in the cash, but is he trading money for the important things in life? A surprise ending will have you wishing Denn all the luck in the world...because he'll need it!

This book starts rolling and never stops despite the pages stopping you'll be left with the thoughts and images forever.

Do yourself a favor and read this book and watch a masterpiece of charactization unfold.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Addiction and Obsession, April 16, 2003

By 

Sarah Witt (Bemidji, MN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stone Cold (Mass Market Paperback)

Sixteen-year old Dennis Doyle is learning about an important tool of independence - money. Like many young people, his first job is mowing lawns. He's good at his job, and keeps track of his profits down to the last cent. He learns that money can give him some control in his life, which is something he's been looking for since his dad left him and his mom.

We get to know Denn Doyle so well very early in "Stone Cold", especially since the book is in first person through Denn's perspective. Pete Hautman does such a good job portraying the stage of life Denn is in - somewhere between child and adult, and we can't help but laugh with Denn, and really like him.

Denn's newfound interest in money and the control it gives him leads him down a path we readers know he shouldn't go down, but can't help but wonder if we would take the same path if in his shoes.

It starts with a simple card game, but Denn wins, and he's hooked. He plays more and more, dreams about and studies poker, and we readers experience Denn's addiction, his obsession, and what it does to his life, and his youth.

Before we know what's happened, Denn Doyle has left childhood far behind, and we get quite a hint at what adulthood has in store for him.

"Stone Cold" is such a moving depiction of adolescence and addiction, and though I must admit it saddened me, it also had me laughing out loud more often than most books I've read. It's a good one - for both young adults and adults.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stone Cold is hot, hot hot!, February 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Stone Cold (Hardcover)

This is a great read for both young and older adults. The first person narration puts you right beside Denn and his ups and downs with gambling. Pete Hautman's writing leaves no doubt that he has been there, at the table, cards in hand, knots in his stomach. Only a guy who has played hours of poker could have written this! The teen voice really comes through and then ending has a powerful punch without moralizing.