I have a feeling this was a poor choice for first Colson Whitehead book. He’s clearly a very talented writer and yet, this reads like a magazine article that bloated beyond capacity. I would really be curious to read the article in Grantland that inspired this book because I bet it was fucking awesome. As a book? It’s uneven and all over the place. Much of the humor felt forced. It’s hard knowing how to rate a book like this, so I finally settled on 4 stars for his ability to write great sentences and 2 stars for how it made me feel. Averaged out to 3 stars.
In 2011, Grantland offered Whitehead the chance to play in the 2011 World Series of Poker. They’d cover his $10,000 stake, he’d write a story, and he’d be able to keep any earnings. A casual poker play with friends, he decided to pursue a training regimen attacking with three prongs: Existential, Physical, & Mental. He hired Helen Ellis, a writer, avid poker player, and self-described housewife, to coach him on his playing skills. Their interactions were my favorite part of this book and it makes me want to pick up one of her books.
All this is pretty straightforward, but the entire book feels sardonic through and through. It’s not exactly fun to read that for the length of an entire book. As an article? I could absolutely see that being compelling.
There are lots of little tangents and meditations on life, so it feels overstuffed with extras that don’t need to be there. Combine with an overplayed joke about Anhedonia being his home country and I was pretty cranky by the time I finished this.