positively 5th street (Mcmanus)

jayadd · #1 05-10-2003, 01:07 PM

great book for the Poker player who wants to know the real story behind binion's.

samz · #2 05-10-2003, 05:38 PM

Really thought it was too long.
I liked it because I am a poker nut - like the section on the WSOP but was not that interested in the Binions stuff.

jayadd · #3 05-10-2003, 11:22 PM

i thought the stuff about Ted binion was great. i found the stories about Annie Duke hilarious. You think mcmanus got some good reads on TJ?

Anadrol 50 · #4 05-11-2003, 01:29 AM

This book is amazing. I am just about finished. It is very hard to put down.

Rick Nebiolo · #5 05-13-2003, 03:18 AM

it gets great reviews on amazon but then again most books do

~ rick

Cyrus · #6 05-23-2003, 12:11 AM

I think "Postively 5th Street" was a great read. Should be among the best poker literature. Marks of a good book, taking the reader beyond its subject (McGuffin) matter, and starting off in one direction and then getting you elsewhere.

As to Rick Nebiolo's comment about Amazon.com ratings, spot on. One should never pay attention to stars, for example: those who like a book think that anything below a full 5-star rating would mean they don't. Another comment about the reviews is that, although surely bad books outnumber good books by a huge margin, it seems that people get moved more to write up about a book they liked rather than a book they didn't like. Then again, most people prefer to bet on Pass/Come and it's not for math'matical purposes...

Kurn, son of Mogh · #7 05-23-2003, 01:48 PM

I haven't finished it yet, but so far the most fascinating part was learning about the relationahip between A. Alvarez and Sylvia Plath, leading to McManus' comparison of Plath and Stuey. Poets and poker players. Makes sense in a strange sort of way.

cero_z · #8 05-26-2003, 02:41 AM

Hi Kurn,
"Poets and poker players. Makes sense in a strange sort of way. "
I'm a poker player and I'm married to a poet. It is strange. [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/confused.gif[/img] It makes sense also.

balt999 · #9 05-26-2003, 05:56 PM

I'm currently reading this book...and I'm rather enjoying...pretty intresting view of the Ted Binion case..

Lee Jones · #10 05-27-2003, 03:14 PM

I thought it was a dynamite book. It's not light reading, and it helps if you have a passing familiarity with Greek mythology, popular music, poetry, and other subjects of "culture" that often escape poker players. In fact, it made me want to go read Sylvia Plath's poetry.

His writing is head and shoulders above most anything else written about poker (my efforts definitely included). It's Big Deal with an honest treatment of his dark side. He goes places that I, personally, wouldn't have the guts to go in pursuit of the story.

Full marks - read it soon.

Regards, Lee