Hustler

FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE QUEEN'S GAMBIT - NOW A MAJOR NETFLIX DRAMA'IF HEMINGWAY HAD THE PASSION FOR POOL THAT HE HAD FOR BULLFIGHTING, HIS HERO MIGHT HAVE BEEN EDDIE FELSON' TIMEThe novel that inspired the legendary Paul Newman film, The Hustler tells the story of Fast Eddie Felson, a young pool player who hustles suckers in small towns, looking for stake money so he can reach his goal: a marathon match in Chicago against Minnesota Fats.A classic of American fiction, The Hustler is an exploration of guts, stamina and character, and one man with a talent for life in smoky poolrooms.

This book sees the poetry of the pool game . . . Fast Eddie's ascent up the ladder from pool shark to full-time hustler is the story of the will to power, told in cool fifties style, If Hemingway had the passion for pool that he had for bullfighting, his hero might have been Eddie Felson, A wonderful hymn to the last true era when men of substance played pool with a vengeance, A fine, swift, wanton, offbeat novel, Tevis writes a stark, cut-down prose that admirably suits his tale of people who live on the edge of desperation in fifties Chicago

Walter Tevis was an American novelist and short story writer. Whilst a student at the University of Kentucky, Tevis worked in a pool hall and published a story about the game for an English class. He would later revisit his love for pool in the novels THE HUSTLER (1959) and THE COLOR OF MONEY (1984), both of which would be adapted into multiple award-winning films starring Paul Newman. Among his other works, THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH (1963) and MOCKINGBIRD (1980) are considered masterpieces of science fiction. Tevis died in 1984.