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Running the Table
The Legend of Kid Delicious, The Last Great American Pool Hustler
1 of 1 copy available
RUNNING THE TABLE spins the outrageous tale of Kid Delicious and his studly if less talented setup man, Bristol Bob. Never was there a more entertaining or mismatched pair of sidekicks, as together they go underground into the flavorfully seamy world of pool to learn the art of the hustle and experience the highs and lows of life on the road. Their four-year odyssey takes them from podunk pool halls to slick urban billiard rooms across America, as they manage to take down as much as $30,000 one night, and the next night end up with just enough gas money to get home. With every stop the action gets hotter, the calls get closer, and Delicious’ prowess with a cue stick becomes more widely known. Ultimately Delicious sheds his cover, becoming perhaps the biggest sensation in professional pool since Minnesota Fats. L. Jon Wertheim paints a lasting portrait of an insanely talented and magnetic hustler who is literally larger than life.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
October 2, 2007 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781415942628
- File size: 282494 KB
- Duration: 09:48:31
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Like a Damon Runyon work, this book takes listeners into the world of the pool hustler, where nicknames like "Kid Delicious," "Bristol Bob," and "Puerto-Rican Pete" abound and where fame and celebrity are the kiss of death in terms of potential earnings. The book focuses primarily on Kid Delicious, a young pool hustler who rises to the height of his craft in the 1990s and early 2000s, but who can't make a living hustling once people start to recognize him. Butch Engle does a solid narration, delivering a kind of East Coast cigarette-voiced reading that gives the book flavor but doesn't overpower the material itself. He gives selected figures, especially Kid Delicious, distinctive voices when he reads direct quotes. R.C.G. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine -
Starred review from July 30, 2007
This new release from Sports Illustrated
writer Wertheim (Venus Envy
), who expertly reports a true life story reminiscent of The Hustler
and The Color of Money
, details the exploits of Danny “Kid Delicious” Basavich, who, after dropping out of high school in the 1990s, went from being a suicidal, overweight teen to a legendary pool player. Wertheim has created a new version of the American dream, one where the predictable life of white picket fences and green lawns is replaced by the adventures brought by the spin of a cue ball and wads of greenbacks continually changing hands. At the heart of the book is the engrossing tale of two distinct relationships. The first is about Kid's two selves—the personable, pool-playing wiz and the bedridden, depressed bundle of nerves. The other story line follows the ruckus raised by the pool-playing exploits of the fat and friendly Kid and his fit and feisty partner, Bristol Bob. Adding to the book's appeal is Wertheim's eloquent and vivid prose that so perfectly captures the squalid, sepia-toned environs of America's billiard halls that it's easy to forget that the events in this book reflect recent history and not pool's roaring 1920s heyday .
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