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: Refreshing
Review: "Poker Face" is a quick read, but not because it skimps on content - rather, it's the type you can't put down. Lederer is a poet and it shows in her prose - succinct, musical phrasings, poignant metaphor, hints of sensuousness.This book is not for those who are interested only in learning poker nitty-gritty or intimate details of the lives of Howard Lederer and Annie Duke. This book tells the story of a woman with an intriguing history, lost, finding herself. I highly recommend it.
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: Refreshing
Review: "Poker Face" is a quick read, but not because it skimps on content - rather, it's the type you can't put down. Lederer is a poet and it shows in her prose - succinct, musical phrasings, poignant metaphor, hints of sensuousness. This book is not for those who are interested only in learning poker nitty-gritty or intimate details of the lives of Howard Lederer and Annie Duke. This book tells the story of a woman with an intriguing history, lost, finding herself. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: It just skims the surface...
Review: ...of what obviously is a much deeper story then what we get. Lederer's memoirs show glimpses into a rich, quirky upbringing surrounded by a family of colorfully framed characters yet somehow stops short of fully fleshing out this tale and the folk involved. Part of the problem is attributed to the length - a quickly digestible tome of 200 pages in which within Lederer ambitiously attempts to capture: 1) a coming of age story,
2) a portrait of a dysfunctional family,
3) musings on the psychology of gamblers,
4) recollections on the process of developing oneself into a 'serious poker player,
5) a, 'making it on my own,' tale, and...
6) brief glimpses into the writing life. Certainly an interesting memoir worthy of your time if any of the above 6 subjects capture your fancy but utlimately it will you leave wishing for more content and focus on her most interesting subjects (mostly her ruminations on poker).
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: Well Written...But Lacking True Insight
Review: I found this book, although well written, to be little more than an attempt to rationalize the obvious personal defeciencies necessary to allow one's self to be pulled down into the grimy underbelly that is the world of professional gambling. Perhaps some of the reviewers who used such words as "hyper intelligent" or "gifted" need to do a little soul searching of their own. There is nothing intelligent about living with that constant craving of your next big, hollow "score."
Rating:
Summary: The memoir at its best
Review: I loved good writing for a long time before I discovered poker. This memoir is writing at its best, and there's poker in it, too. What more can you ask for?
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.
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