Rating: 
Summary: Some good, some bad, worth reading overall.
Review: Jim McManus, Positively Fifth Street: Murderers, Cheetahs, and Binion's World Series of Poker (Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux, 2003)Jim McManus made the final table at the World Series of Poker. That alone should make any poker player want to pick this book up and read it immediately. It gets better when you realize that McManus went in as the rankest of rank amateurs, the guy whose previous poker career revolved around the $3-$6 Hold 'em game at the local VFW. Yes, folks, Jim McManus is living proof that anyone CAN do it. And, as This American Life host Ira Glass says on the back cover, the poker writing to be found here really is some of the best sports writing you are likely to ever see; McManus' descriptions are easily the equal of Laura Hillenbrand's race descriptions in Seabiscuit (and this is high praise indeed). Its when McManus gets off the subject of poker that things tend to go downhill. Unfortunately, this happens often. McManus was in Vegas for the purpose of covering the Murphy/Tabish trial (Murphy and Tabish were accused of murdering Ted Binion, wayward son of the owner of the casino where the World Series of Poker is held*), and much of the book details McManus' attempts to get at the meat of the psyches of Binion, Murphy, and Tabish, in order to write the article. Despite the tenuous connections McManus makes between murder and poker towards the end of the book, these are two separate pieces, and should have been treated as such. Worth reading for the cards. Skim the rest. *** * For the sticklers in the audience: yes, "is" is the correct tense. Binion's reopened on April 1, 2004.
Rating:
Summary: Completely disjointed, but has its merits
Review: I picked this up expecting to read an interesting social and cultural history of poker, the World Series of Poker in particular. While I got that in part from this book, I also was treated to a bunch of other stories I wasn't interested in. McManus goes to Vegas ostensibly to cover the progress of women players in the WSOP. He ends up spending his advance on getting into the tournament and placing fifth to everyone's surprise. This in itself is an interesting story. But for some reason McManus insists on offering the readers weird sidetrips. Ten pages on Sylvia Plath, his trips to strip bars, a whole chapter on his family history. Even as I was reading it, I was confused about what on earth his grandfather's trip to the British Isles during WWI had to do with poker. Turns out, nothing. McManus just likes talking. He even gives us illustrations of his grandfather's letters written while on duty, letters in no way related to poker. McManus also assumes we are interested in his sexual exploits and the relationship between him and his wife. I don't know about you, but the last thing I want to know is how his wife fills out a Victoria's Secret teddy, and how hard it is for him to be "Good Jim" (his persona...he also has a "Bad Jim"). Icky. The murder trial of Ted Binion is a nice sidestory, but McManus doesn't develop it enough. It makes random appearances, often at the stretch of literary credibility. We get to hear comparisons between poker, Ted Binion, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and the author all in one sentence. If you are confused, you should be. All this aside, the poker story itself is interesting. I don't know anything about poker, so found it hard to follow the lingo at times, but this wasn't a major obstacle for me. While he's playing in the championship, McManus can be quite a good tourguide, even gonzo at times. One only wishes he would have stuck with this storyline, and left his wife's lingerie out of it.
Rating: 
Summary: Good read--especially the scenes from the poker table
Review: The best parts of McManus' book are by far the scenes he depicts at the poker table. He's a journalist who makes it to the final table at the WSOP and lives to tell about it, so if you enjoy reading well-written pieces about Texas hold'em, you'll like the book. McManus' style is easy to follow and his honesty is compelling. I especially enjoyed his accounts of the other WSOP competitors and his feelings toward them during play--hilarious and so true! About half the book is spent on an account of the Ted Binion murder trial, and for me, things slowed down at that point. I would have rather the two separate stories find their way into two separate books. That's my lone beef about Positively Fifth Street, however. All-in-all I liked it. If you're a poker fan, I'm betting you'll like it too.
Rating:
Summary: Could have been 5 stars with better writing!
Review: I had a difficult time getting through this book. Mainly because McMannus's writing style jumps around from topic to topic and some things are presented fast with a lot of street slang thrown in. Had it been written better I would have given it a full 5 stars because the material in the book is great. There is an awful lot of fascinating information about the big poker tournament and playing poker in general. Additionally, you can better understand the lure and excitement that drives people to mostly throw away their money almost on a whim at some of these tournaments.
Rating:
Summary: A great book in there somewhere
Review: This seems to me to be two books and several short stories all rolled into one volume. I thought the book about Binion family and especially the murder of Ted Binion was an average book that I would not have been interested in reading, had it not been intergrated into this overall book. I thought the author's digressions were, for the most part, of little or no interest to me. I thought the author's account of his amazing adventure to Las Vegas and all the way to the final table at the WSOP was spellbinding. I loved the adventure and the great insight into high stakes tournament poker, but finally began to page through the distractions to get to the white meat.
Rating: 
Summary: This and Craps Underground tell the tales
Review: And what tales they are. If you want to get in on the action right from your favorite easy chair Positively Fifth Street and The Craps Underground will take you to the world of the great players in the most exciting venues in the country! These are must read books for casino gamblers and others wishing to go on the great adventures with larger than life characters!
Rating:
Summary: A good idea taken too far?
Review: "Positively Fifth Street" is an interesting book that anyone interested in poker or gambling or Las Vegas should probably read. But be prepared to wade through pages and pages of useless fluff and drivel to get to the good parts. The book would have been many times better if it were about 75 pages shorter. The author is clearly a skilled wordsmith and weaves an interesting story about the death of Ted Binion with the story of his experience in the World Series of Poker and the history of that event. The book is good mix of humor, drama and reality that will leave the reader both laughing and thinking to himself, "yeah, I've been there!" Unfortunately he also goes off on numerous tagentially related stories about himself and various other matters that really could have (should have) been left out of the final edit. It's almost as if he were getting paid by the word instead of the number of copies sold. The upshot: ultimately I would have to say the main stories of the book (the death of Binion, the World Series of Poker) are worth the labor of getting through the pointless material that should have been left out. Wait for the paperback and give it a try.
Rating:
Summary: all men, gamblers,and humans must read this book
Review: Brilliant, rambling and highly insightful stuff ranging from a murder trial to the various influeneces his grandfathers had on his character...
Rating:
Summary: A PAGE TURNER
Review: A really good book - plain and simple. A terrific, surprisng, interesting story written exceptionally well. I enjoyed all of it. It's the kind of book you want to read when you don't want something that's "heavy," but rather something that's pleasurable and a page turner. Nothing assuming about Mr. McManus' style. Just right on point. Thank you author for a delightful book.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: Lately there have been books about the "behind the scenes" lives of various gamblers or players. This is one of the two best in the genre. The book is a rivetting account of a murder and the competition that goes into the poker world. The other book is Frank Scoblete's The Craps Underground, which tells the behind the scenes story of dice controllers who have won millions from the casinos. If you enjoy the inside scoop on people who make their living challenging Lady Luck, I recommend this book and Scoblete's book as must reads.
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