I read this when I was in, of course, fourth grade and recently re-read it to my daughter as a read aloud. Loved it both times.
The book is still funny and emotionally real, but another reason to read it is to see how different parenting is 30+ years later. Leave 'em alone in Central Park? Well, it's just for ten minutes...
The ending delivers a legit shock as well. I don't think they'd publish it this way today for the same audience.
The book is still funny and emotionally real, but another reason to read it is to see how different parenting is 30+ years later. Leave 'em alone in Central Park? Well, it's just for ten minutes...
The ending delivers a legit shock as well. I don't think they'd publish it this way today for the same audience.
I believe Leonard, despite being one of the greatest living writers, doesn't really have a masterpiece. He's got a bunch of top-tier books and this one just slips in.
LaBrava is an ex-Secret Service agent turned photographer who meets Jean Shaw, the aging movie star he was fascinated with as a twelve year old. She never got the part of the "professional virgin," always the femme fatale. I suspect there's a bit of self-portrait in LaBrava. He's an artist but without pretension. He likes capturing people and has curiosity but no pretension. Shaw likes playing roles from her movies. Like a lot of Leonard characters, she's concerned with putting on an act and leaves her audience wondering which part is act and which is real.
Then there's the good bad guys and the bad bad guys. The set the plot in motion. It's about extortion, sex and theft, but that's not the important part.
Leonard has written a ton of books and it's a thrill to still find top tier stuff.
LaBrava is an ex-Secret Service agent turned photographer who meets Jean Shaw, the aging movie star he was fascinated with as a twelve year old. She never got the part of the "professional virgin," always the femme fatale. I suspect there's a bit of self-portrait in LaBrava. He's an artist but without pretension. He likes capturing people and has curiosity but no pretension. Shaw likes playing roles from her movies. Like a lot of Leonard characters, she's concerned with putting on an act and leaves her audience wondering which part is act and which is real.
Then there's the good bad guys and the bad bad guys. The set the plot in motion. It's about extortion, sex and theft, but that's not the important part.
Leonard has written a ton of books and it's a thrill to still find top tier stuff.
Quite good, especially for a "discovered" first book published posthumously. Fifties-era crime and addiction, with femme-fatales and crooked cops and crooked crooks. Good enough to make me want to read No Beast So Fierce, supposedly Bunker's best.
"Even if you don't like ..." That's how a lot of recommendations go for books and things people might not otherwise try. "Even if you don't like football, watch Friday Night Lights." And it applies here. While it certainly helps to like poker, that affection isn't required to appreciate The Biggest Game in Town, written by British poet and New Yorker contributor A. Alverez.
This is not a poker how-to book. It's a portrait of Vegas as Dreamland, the only place these eccentrics who play in the biggest game can thrive. It's funny and beautifully written, even if you don't like poker.
This is not a poker how-to book. It's a portrait of Vegas as Dreamland, the only place these eccentrics who play in the biggest game can thrive. It's funny and beautifully written, even if you don't like poker.