Rating: 
Summary: Faded and Folded
Review: I returned the book to Amazon.com because I thought the jacket cover had gotten wet during South Louisiana's latest tropical depression. I was amazed to learn that the jacket cover is meant to appear faded and folded. I have not been able to ascertain why the publsher decided to do this. Can someone help?
Rating:
Summary: Faded and Folded
Review: I returned the book to Amazon.com because I thought the jacket cover had gotten wet during South Louisiana's latest tropical depression. I was amazed to learn that the jacket cover is meant to appear faded and folded. I have not been able to ascertain why the publsher decided to do this. Can someone help?
Rating:
Summary: Beguiling Cajun Seduces Louisiana
Review: I was born, and raised in Louisiana. I had to take Louisiana history in junior high school. It was a waste of time, because it taught about Thomas Jefferson, Napolean, Bienville, spanish-french archetecture, Iberville, etc. Two books that are a must read if you want to know anything about Louisiana: "Just Taking Orders", and "Bad Bet on the Bayou".
Rating:
Summary: real life more outlandish than fiction
Review: If you were asked to make up a Grisham type tale about politics and corruption I do not think it would rival the true story this book takes you through.
Rating:
Summary: Winner
Review: If you've ever wondered how things happen behind the scenes this book transports you to the highways and byways of the murky political landscape. Bridges has crafted a top notch replay of the high stakes sweepstakes that became gambling in Louisiana. A must read for anyone interested in politics, business and gambling.
Rating: 
Summary: Bored on the Bayou
Review: Taylor Bridges' "Bad Bet on the Bayou" is a comprehensive account of how legal gambling (excuse me, "gaming") came to pass in Louisiana and how it eventually led to the criminal conviction of the state's populist ex-governor Edwin Edwards. The story is one of shady deals, sleazy politicians and outright bribery. Edwards was just one of many crooked characters who put their own interests ahead of the state's. As a result, New Orleans received a white elephant land casino, the Mississippi River and other Louisiana waterways got riverboat casinos that never leave the docks and every bar, gas station and truck stop got a video poker machine. This was supposed to help cure the state's financial woes, but it instead led to a spate of corruption and a whole host of social ills.All of this sounds interesting and it is to a point. The problem with the book is that it is TOO comprensive to be a truly good read. Bridges spends a couple of hundred pages painstakingly recounting every aspect of the dealmaking that took place, far more than will hold the attention of most readers. Only in the book's last hundred pages does he finally get to the Edward DeBartolo riverboat deal which was ultimately Governor Edwards' downfall. Bridges provides a good perspective of the state's long history with gambling, but his insistance of recounting the entire life history of just about every player slows his story down. Interestingly, he give the least amount of space to his least compelling argument; that of the people who become addicted to gambling. He recounts the stories of a few working class and middle class people who blew their life savings either on the poker machines or in the casinos. He lets stand without comment one woman's ridiculous assertion that state of Louisina is to blame for her losing $100,000 on $2 video poker bets. Excuse me lady, but no one put a gun to your head and forced you to make those bets. Overall, "Bad Bet on the Bayou" is a story that needed to be told as a warning to other municipalities enamored with the potential financial windfall of legalized gambling. Unfortunately, the book's narrative is not as good as its subject.
Rating:
Summary: Bored on the Bayou
Review: Taylor Bridges' "Bad Bet on the Bayou" is a comprehensive account of how legal gambling (excuse me, "gaming") came to pass in Louisiana and how it eventually led to the criminal conviction of the state's populist ex-governor Edwin Edwards. The story is one of shady deals, sleazy politicians and outright bribery. Edwards was just one of many crooked characters who put their own interests ahead of the state's. As a result, New Orleans received a white elephant land casino, the Mississippi River and other Louisiana waterways got riverboat casinos that never leave the docks and every bar, gas station and truck stop got a video poker machine. This was supposed to help cure the state's financial woes, but it instead led to a spate of corruption and a whole host of social ills. All of this sounds interesting and it is to a point. The problem with the book is that it is TOO comprensive to be a truly good read. Bridges spends a couple of hundred pages painstakingly recounting every aspect of the dealmaking that took place, far more than will hold the attention of most readers. Only in the book's last hundred pages does he finally get to the Edward DeBartolo riverboat deal which was ultimately Governor Edwards' downfall. Bridges provides a good perspective of the state's long history with gambling, but his insistance of recounting the entire life history of just about every player slows his story down. Interestingly, he give the least amount of space to his least compelling argument; that of the people who become addicted to gambling. He recounts the stories of a few working class and middle class people who blew their life savings either on the poker machines or in the casinos. He lets stand without comment one woman's ridiculous assertion that state of Louisina is to blame for her losing $100,000 on $2 video poker bets. Excuse me lady, but no one put a gun to your head and forced you to make those bets. Overall, "Bad Bet on the Bayou" is a story that needed to be told as a warning to other municipalities enamored with the potential financial windfall of legalized gambling. Unfortunately, the book's narrative is not as good as its subject.
Rating:
Summary: Lacks focus
Review: The author could not decide what his subject was: a) the corrupting effects of contemporary gambling in Louisiana; b) how gambling licenses were won there; or c) Edwards' corrupt activities. Although I enjoyed many of its anecdotes, the book is structurally flawed and does not hang together. It also suffers from annoyingly redundant quotes. Bridges undoubtedly could have written excellent 50-100 pp. pieces on each of the three subjects above, or he could have shortened them into very readable magazine pieces. But he has failed to turn these related topics into a cohesive whole.
Rating:
Summary: Where was "60 Minutes"
Review: This book is excellent because it is supported by hard evidence of Louisian-style corruption.. For example, the author reports that former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana, Eddie Jordan, had a videotape of Gov. Edwards delivering a $20,000 bribe to former U.S. Representative Cleo Fields (D LA). Over the objection of his staff, Jordan declined to prosecute Fields or Edwards because , in his opinion, the evidence was insufficient. The Clinton Justice Department did not overrule Jordan's decision. How much more evidence did Jordan need? The real reason that Jordan decl;ined prosecution is that Fields and U.S. Representative William Jefferson (D LA) were both members of the Congressional Black Caucus, and Jefferson and Jordan worked together in the same law office. Jordan could not prosecute his enemy, Edwards. without prosecuting his friend, Fields. The bitter irony of Edwards' criminal activity is that the U.S. Court of Appeals will probably reverse his conviction on legitimate grounds. Both the prosecutors and the trial judge overreached by dismissing during jury deliberations the only juror who was voting for acquittal and by ministrepreting the RICO statute. In any event, the question remains: why did "60 Minutes", "20/20", and "Prime Time" fail to cover the Fields bribery case? Dan , Tom and Sam, "What's the answer?"
Rating:
Summary: Riveting read
Review: This riveting tale of corruption reads like a nonfiction version of The Firm. With journalistic precision, Bridges details the patronage, extortion, payoffs, and other shady dealings that permeated four-term Louisiana governor Edwin Edwards' administration. While Edwards is the central focus of the book, the author introduces us to an array of fascinating characters. These range from mobsters intent on getting a cut of Louisiana's gambling revenues to ordinary people confronted with navigating an unthinkably dysfunctional state government. Bridges clearly knows his material and shows remarkable insight into the strange netherworld of Louisiana politics.
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