Poker Face : A Girlhood Among Gamblers

Rating:
Summary: Some parts work better than others
Review: The book trails through Katy's memories chronologically, although selectively. She has wisely chosen to emphasize her relationship with her family and their poker lives, probably a prerequisite in order to get the book published. The reader is taken into the Lederer family home on an east coast campus, beginning with a focus on the mother's alcoholism. Then, Katy recounts her experiences in high school and college, before moving on to Las Vegas, where Howard has made himself wealthy by betting on sports and cards. Finally, Katy returns to the East Coast, and we are left with a feeling of a work in progress- Katy's life story has no climax or summation; she and her family are still in the throes of the issues raised by their unusual choice of occupation.
In general, I liked the book, because it showed the inner workings of a family that is at once familiar and strange. Their various prodigious talents and expressions of genius reminded me of two other genius families I mentioned just a short while ago: the Royal Tennenbaums and the family in The Hotel New Hampshire, right down to the physically frail and emotionally unstable youngest daughter becoming published by writing her memoirs.
The father of the family, Richard Lederer, is also known to me as the author of a series of books related to puns and various commonly made mistakes in the English language. Katy is obviously a serious literary talent, who has grown up around words being used as playthings. Howard, in addition to being a poker genius, is also a chess master. And their mother, who has an amazing rote memorization that helps her as an aspiring actress, has a special talent for puzzles.
Howard in particular is pulled into the seamier side of poker, getting sucked into a gritty lifestyle involving drugs and cat pee in New York City. But the family seems to have made good financially, even though Howard seemed to be in the midst of a police crackdown on his sports betting business as the book wraps up.
What struck me also about the book is how very embarrassing it must be to the members of the family. Howard, continually referred to as overweight, is found facedown in the midst of a drug-induced slumber. The mother is weeping all morning to herself, unaware that her daughter is watching her, and even more unaware that her daughter will eventually write about the episode for the book-buying public. I felt a little uncomfortable to be reading these things, knowing that the subjects are out there, probably not feeling all that great about the exposure.
By contrast, Katy is self-indulgent with her own portrayal, and potentially important but embarrassing episodes in her life, such as a break-up with a live-in boyfriend, are glossed over. Overall, we get a portrayal of a girl who is emotionally fragile, prone to depression and indulging that depression, who writes poetry and moons about in the background of happier goings-on because they are not appealing to her well-developed sense of being.
If you can ignore that, however, she does make interesting comments about how wealth has affected her family, and about the implications that Las Vegas's existence has on the human psyche. Money isn't happiness, she says, which is certainly a well-worn cliché, but which is never too tired a theme to be shown through interesting example, which is what Katy has done.
I guess, when I think about it, there is some self-criticism on Katy's part. She records her compulsive grade-grubbing, characterizing it as petty, and also talks about becoming a hypochondriac, but there's also a sense that these problems aren't her fault, and that they're special problems for a special person.
In the end, Katy's self-reflections and thoughts are far less compelling than the legitimately sordid and interesting tales of her other family members, and it is the portrayals of other members of the family that will stick with me into the future.
Katy is a good writer, although she is a little wordy for my tastes (she manages to use the word esplanade twice, for example). She has told the only interesting story from her personal experiences, and she probably could have told the truly interesting bits in about half the space. But I would like to read something written by her on another topic. She writes at one point that she has extensive notes and writing efforts surrounding her own stint as an aspiring poker player. This could be compelling reading, and I'd like to see more from her about topics other than herself.
Added: I saw Howard Lederer playing poker online at Ultimatebet.com, and I asked him whether Katy's book had made him unhappy in any way, what with all the revelations. He said no, not at all, and that he supported her 100%.


Rating:
Summary: "Poker Face" should fold instead of raising our expectations
Review: "Poker Face," Katy Lederer's well-written but prosaic memoir cannot decide if it is an analysis of her dysfunctional family or a discourse on America's newfound fascination with Texas Hold-'Em. When Lederer focuses on family relationships, her memoir is worthy of a raise; when she rhapsodizes about poker, she is trying to win the pot with a hand that should have been folded after the flop. Either way, we've been suckered to complete a book that should have been little more than an extended magazine piece.

Lederer unearths a fascinating, fractious family, one which consists of an alcoholic mother who yearns to act, a three-hundred pound vegan brother who excels as a gambler, a combative older sister who vaults into the big leagues of Las Vegas wagering and a literate father who toils anonymously as a teacher in an Eastern prep school before becoming a best-selling author. The youngest child in this menagerie, Katy recognizes games as the sole glue cementing her family. She never quite discovers what motivates her peripatetic wanderings, either physically or emotionally. In her life, she is an indifferent student then a grade-obsessed one; she gains employment in professions which capitalize on her obsessive qualities and dabbles herself in the harsh realities of professional poker. Nowhere is there an attachment to any one person, any one idea.

It is this detachment, however, which could have made her a talented Hold-'Em player. Her brother, sister and mother, all of whom eventually call Las Vegas home do not connect; instead they intersect, and none too gracefully. On the cusp of illegal activities, they make big bank, spend it frivolously and lead sterile lives. Aside from the adrenaline rush that poker produces, this is no kind of life for a poet, which, we find, Lederer eventually becomes.

If gambling is a zero-sum game, if for every winner there are numerous losers and if winning requires a dispassionate empathy (as the author so obliquely observes), then "Poker Face" is a perfect metaphor for the pastime Katy Lederer sets out to describe. She invites us to the table, notices our every weakness, makes us believe she has something far better than what we hold in our own hand and then takes us for all we're worth.

Rating:
Summary: nice bluff here
Review: Can we just be honest? This is a thesis so Katy could get her MFA degree, and it reads like a student's work. Very careful, very programatic, very ordinary. Uneven pacing, often melodramatic, extremely uneven. Nice try, I say, but this is no poker book, or a truly meaningful memoir. The sad thing is the author did recognize an intriguing subject and the timing--read Poker Boom--is perfect, but do not fall for this bluff, no matter the title, or the cover photo--obviously both something that came from a focus group/editor. I say stick to poetry, Katy, which is just about as complex and godly as poker, and isn't, in its core, FALSE...

Rating:
Summary: Congratulations to Katy
Review: I really found this book a lovely read and very heartfelt. The author is true to her own feelings, but respectful of the quirks of her family members, no matter that they infringed on her own happiness. No, it doesn't tell us all about living the poker life (as earlier reviews have griped)-- why in the world would anyone suppose that it was a poker how-to or "inside" the poker life -- or anything like that? Because the word "poker" was in the title? Sheesh. Congratulations to you, Katy, on this memoir. I enjoyed every minute of your book. Keep going.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting Biography, Highly Selective
Review: I suspect many readers will be drawn to this book to get an inside look at the life of professional gamblers. In the main, they will leave disappointed. This is not so much a book about gambling as it is a coming of age story of a young woman growing up in a quirky family.
There is some excellent writing in this book. Several of the scenes were quite striking. Others fell a bit short.
This book is a fast, enjoyable read, but leaves the reader wondering about what the author chose to exclude from the story. What she includes gives us a picture, but I can't help but wonder what lies behind.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting insight into the Lederer family
Review: Katy, thank you so much for writing this book. I found it extremely interesting and enjoyable. I thought it was really interesting to see Howard and Annie's progression from playing card games with the family to being professional gamblers. This book also describes Katy's relationship with Howard, Annie, and her parents. The writing in this book is excellent!

Rating:
Summary: A good book of a girl trying to find herself
Review: The author Katy Lederer is probably the least known of the lederer siblings especially with poker explosion she is the sister of Howard Lederer and Annie Duke which if you follow poker at all know that they are bro/sis professional poker players(Annie just got through beating a group of the guys to win 2 million dollars).

This is a memoir of the authors life in New Hampshire starting with her childhood and dealing with an alcoholic mother and how it effects the family. A mother who drinks all the time and sits and plays numerous versions of solitare and not much else,she also having deal with the fact of her being around a bunch of rich kids and feeling second class around them(her father was a english teacher at this boarding school for the rich kids.The story follows along as she grows up and trys to find her niche with different jobs she even giving poker a try learning from her older brother and sister.

It was interesting to learn things about howard and annie that you probably will not get from the poker magazines for instance howard was part of a betting group at times betting very large sums of money so profitable that he ended up employing his mother after she left there father.You also that they were a pretty talented family there father an award winning author.
It was amazing how competitive the family was.

This is like the book description shows is a memoir so there is a little bit about poker but not solely devoted to it but its a good read

Rating:
Summary: really very good.
Review: This is an odd book; but it's wonderful.

My review, however, is not wholly objective, though; I read the book already very much aware of the lives of its secondary characters. I'm a poker fan; I love watching the tournaments; I know the a-list players and their - often absorbing - personal stories. so my natural approach to the book was as a neat glimpse into the lives of no-limit goddess and god, Ms A. Duke and Mr. H Lederer - the sister and brother of the author.

But on the other hand, I'm also a more than avid reader - of fiction, criticism, etc., but predominantly of non-fiction, biographies and memoirs. So I can reasonably confirm that, as a memoir, Poker Face fulfills its role thoroughly.

Though the book is obviously discerning, there has been some complaint that because of its wide embrace it only brushes its fingers along each sterling insight. This isn't true. The book is short, indeed; but so are Mr A. Burroughs' memoirs - which latter are certainly never anemic. Despite the extensive temporal span and inclusive storyline of Poker Face, there is a driving core exploration/exposition here, a clear line Ms Lederer pursues. And she pursues it very well. The epilogue - or maybe it's just a short last chapter, I can't remember - nails it all down tight. And we're not talking Becket here; nothing is terribly complex; any mindful reader will automatically hear Ms Lederer's story whispering intensely and lucidly. And listening is very rewarding. The foibles of this family are so amplified and so seamlessly tied tangible representations - to games, like poker; or to the families comparative economic status - that a vista opens wide, and offers us the naked anatomy of any contemporary American family.

I do, however, decline the fifth star in my rating, only because the character's personalities bounce around a bit. Howard is - ironically - very stable as a character, but Annie, the mother - and even the father at times - are not. The characters are not developed enough to keep their portraits `within the lines', in the Crayola sense.

But, all-in-all, very much worth it. Very good.

Rating:
Summary: A disappointing gambit
Review: This story starts out full of promise of something deep and insightful, something poignant but somewhere along the middle of the story it bogs down in mediocrity. If I want to read a how to poker book, I will. I wanted to read about the people involved in these stories. It concludes somewhat better, reaching a little further but generally a disappointment.

Rating:
Summary: Dear Sean,
Review: This wasn't a thesis. I have an MFA in poetry, not creative nonfiction, something you would know if you had gotten past page 100. I think you are exactly right that the book is plain and careful; it concerns people who are still alive and moving about in the world, and I was aiming to convey as respectfully as possible the realities of their stories more than my own personal imaginative style. In this I think the book is anything but "false." I am sorry you were disappointed, but I would have appreciated this review more if you had read my book more thoroughly before posting it. Thanks, Katy