Roctober magazine editor JAKE AUSTEN presents a bushel of poker stories featuring these members of the Roctober family: EDIE ADAMS, GENTLEMAN JOHN BATTLES, KEN BURKE, ART FEIN, JEROME GAYNOR, CARRIE GOLUS, DAVID GREENBERGER, DAVE HOEKSTRA, JASON LUTES, HEATHER MCADAMS, ERIC OTTENS, JAMES PORTER, THOMAS EDWARD SHAW (of the monks), JILLIAN STEINBERGER, WAYMON TIMBSDAYLE, CHRIS WARE, PATRICK W . WELCH, Plus poker goodies from ASHLEY ADAMS (of Winning 7-Card Stud fame), BENJAMIN AUSTEN (on poker luck), BOBBY BARE (Country musc legend), JEREMY BRADDOCK (on class war poker), NOLAN DALLA (PokerPages.com), GREG DINKIN (Amarillo Slim's writing buddy), ROBERT ELDER (on college buddy poker), JONATHAN FOER (on dirty decks), PETE FORNATALE (1980s pop culture scribe extraordinaire), BRETT FORREST (XFL historian), MOIRA F. HARRIS (on dogs playing poker), DAN KELLY (on poker evil), STARLEE KINE (of This American Life), RUTH LOPEZ (on poker etiquette), RICHARD MELTZER (invents a game), NEAL POLLACK (of Never Mind The Pollacks legend), DAVID QUANTICK & KAREN KRIZANOVICH (on Brits and Poker), ELIZABETH RAPOPORT (on breaking the poker gender barrier), TOM SPURGEON (of the Comics Journal), JACQUELINE AND NIKKI STEWART (on poker with grandma), YUVAL TAYLOR (on poker music), DARRELL TICEHURT (well known fisherman), NICK TOSCHES (on Lester Bangs), CHRIS TSAKIS (of WFMU), BERT WILLIAMS (a new transcription of "Darktown Poker Club"), DAVE WONDRICH (on poker drinking), BILL ZEHME (on Johnny Carson)

EXCERPT:

• Read an excerpt from the book by Richard Meltzer. (WEB EXCLUSIVE! This is a slightly different version of the essay that appears in the book)

LINKS:

• Buy From Powells.com
• Buy From Amazon

OFFICIAL DESCRIPTION:

A Friendly Game of Poker
52 Takes on the Neighborhood Game
Edited by Jake Austen, Foreword by Ira Glass
The essence of neighborhood poker in 52 original essays

"There's no such thing, of course, as a friendly game of poker, but this motley school of fish, swinging dicks and hot chicks with decks do a terrific job of making their home games well worth sitting in on. I call."
James McManus, author, Positively Fifth Street

Essays by a diverse group of writers capture the joys, regrets, friendships, philosophies, and adventures experienced through neighborhood poker. This collection of 52 original pieces features a section of practical and impractical tips for home poker games and a cornucopia of fascinating facts about poker paintings, poker movies, poker books, and other poker-themed masterpieces of popular culture. An interview with Edie Adams demonstrates Ernie Kovacs's poker obsession; Nick Tosches reveals Lester Bangs as a sucker; Chris Ware illustrates Bert Williams's "Darktown Poker Club"; Bill Zehme discusses Johnny Carson's celebrity poker game; and Neal Pollack discloses how his grandfather brutally introduced him to the game. With far more humor and clarity than a formal poker guide, these essays encapsulate the experience of spending a long evening drinking beer and playing pasteboards.