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What Members Thought
This is a compelling, suspenseful story that makes for a great page-turner, to be sure. But the author writes with such a show-offy, hamhanded style he manages to get in the way of the action more than a few times. He seems to think he’s writing some kind of hard-boiled fiction rather than a straightforward account of the events at hand. My favorite example, from page 68: “Somewhere over Chicago, the sky went black on the other side of the glass egg at Kevin’s shoulder.” Please.
And his technique ...more
And his technique ...more
An enjoyable quick read. I got caught up in the excitement and danger of Vegas. I am disappointed to learn that this book is not truly non-fiction. I'd like to see how Jon Krakauer would write this - he does great non-fiction.
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Dec 05, 2009
Sunflower
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really liked it
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review of another edition
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fiction-read-2009
A compelling read, which purports to be non-fiction, but which apparently plays fast and loose with some of its facts. Entertaining for a look at a lifestyle most of us can only dream of, the risks these people took to get it, and the eventual downfall as they became "dinosaurs". And a special introduction to Blackjack card counting at the end in case you want to give it a try!
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May 07, 2012
alana
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really liked it
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review of another edition
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non-fiction,
books-on-the-big-screen
Bringing Down the House is a very entertaining account of mathy MIT students hustling casinos through their enlightened version of card counting. Having seen the movie awhile back, I was already familiar with the story, but the book still seemed fresh, interesting, and hard to put down. However, I walked away from it feeling pretty dumb!
Reading this book makes me wonder what you could manage to win off a casino if you were able to keep the desire to win big under control - seems like everyone gets busted when they reach a little too far.
Jul 15, 2008
Katie
marked it as to-read
Sep 05, 2009
Janna
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Jan 07, 2011
Megan
marked it as to-read
Jul 06, 2011
Amy W
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Nov 06, 2011
Juliana Philippa
marked it as to-read
