Players: Con Men, Hustlers, Gamblers, and Scam Artists

Players: Con Men, Hustlers, Gamblers and Scam Artists contains 36 diverse short offerings by 33 different authors. Some are fact, some are fiction and some are speculation. There are short stories, essays, memoirs and excerpts from longer works. There's even one poem.The authors run the literary gamut from Dostoevesky to Frank W. Abagnale (you know, the Catch Me if You Can guy). There's very little in the way of editorial input to provide the reader with context as to why a given work was selected and what the author's original intent was supposed to have been.It is extremely unlikely that anyone will like each and every entry. And it is equally unlikely that any reader wouldn't find something here to enjoy.I personally found five of the selections to be excellent:"The Queen of Spades" by Alexander Pushkin, "The Yellow Kid" by Joseph Weil, an excerpt from "The Hustler" by Walter Tevis, an exerpt from "Cut Numbers" by Nick Tosches and an excerpt from "Love is a Racket" by John Ridley.Deserving of honorable mention are: "The Man Who Would be King" by Rudyard Kipling and an excerpt from "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" by Hunter S. Thompson.The remaining 29 entries were less than satisfying for one reason or another.Bottom line: It's hard to recommend this lengthy, seemingly random collection. Though roughly twenty percent of it is quite good.

Good read in terms of info but but was difficult to get through--too weighty of style by the author.

I plan to read this book in the future in order to know how to better avoid victimization. Fast Eddie Wong of EGOBLOW (A Mathematics and Self-Defense Card Game), Mon., 01Apr13, 1130L.

Articles and short stories by renowned writers on con artists, grifters and the grift. Some were very interesting some just mildly engrossing. Interesting is the best description of my opinion.

I bought this book as a reference for a con related video game I am working on. Of the several I purchased, this was by far the most fun, interesting, and informative. The collection spans novels, plays, movie scripts, and more. Overall, a very fun read.

QUITE SATISFIED / A1++++

Read before gambling.

This baroque , shady and very entertaining book is an epic tour of the gilded and subterrean world of con men, hustlers and gamblers. What surprised me about this book is despite the narcissism and aggression of many of the characters portrayed here, they (and the book) have a artistic and poetic pedigree too. A lot of great writers are in this book --Borges, Baudelaire, Dostoevsky, Luc Sante, Runyon, Brecht, Saul Bellow, Nick Pilegg,i. Hunter Thompson, David Mamet, Nick Tosches and Martin Amis. BUt for my money, the gem or the jewel in the crown is John Molyneux's mini-memoir of gambling in London in the sixties, which, apparently, is a piece written especially for the book.

I'm a little disappointed with this cd. I own all of Rusted Root's cds and there are a lot of great songs that were left out of the "greatest hits". In fact, there are too many for me to list. Most notably, Cat Turned Blue and Where She Runs. If you are new to Rusted Root I suggest that you purchase each cd. They are one of my all-time faves, live and on disk. Also, there is a great Rusted Root DVD that is a must have. Peace Out.