James McManus (1) (1951–)

Another poker classic but this one has parallel narratives: the Binion murder case and the 2000 World Series of Poker. McManus dropped his freelance fee for Harper's on the buy-in for the WSOP and improbably made the final table. At the same time, the Ted Binion murder trial was taking place (Binion was an heir to the Binion casino fortune, which included hosting rights to the WSOP). I especially enjoyed McManus's literary allusions, which provided nice dissonance with his subject matter. I did, however, find the last forty or so pages of the book completely extraneous. Do I really need the close-up look at the Vegas strip clubs McManus frequented? His editor should have guided him a bit more here, I feel. It had little to no relevence to the narrative--and his attempt to explain it away by paralleing his experience with Binion's penchant for strip clubs was pretty weak. But overall, a really enjoyable read.… (more)

Shelf Notes Review


Dear Reader,

This was an audiobook, I feel that fact is important when reviewing because the format of print vs. audiobook can make quite the difference. The Author is a famous poker player who got his fame in the literary world with his informative poker book, "Positively Fifth Street: Murders, Cheetahs and Binion's World Series of Poker". I haven't read that book nor have I heard of James McManus before "Physical". I'm the type of gal that likes to participate not watch when something fun is going on, I hate watching games or sports... I like playing them. Maybe this book has piqued the interested in those who've come across his name through his poker playing skills or his books about the game BUT this book is something entirely different. I would steer those people away from this or at least warn them that without an interest in the medical world or stem cell research, they'd probably be disinterested.

So what does a poker player know about the medical world? Quite a lot actually! As much as his knowledge is vast though, his opinions are even bigger. I can only describe this book as someone who experienced everything first hand and spewed all his passion from this experience straight at us like a lightning bolt. I enjoyed his passion but most of the time I found myself rolling my eyes and hoping he would just tone it down a bit. But this begs the question, if he wasn't so passionate would I have liked the book any more? Probably not. His experience is quite unique and his life is chock full of tragedy. I feel for him and can only be happy he can share this with the world.

I would also advise anyone attempting to read this that he is quite colorful with his words and there's quite a few cringe worthy moments of the book. Particularly, the part about his daughter getting stabbed in the eye with a broken magic wand at a birthday party. I won't spoil the details but it gets quite gruesome. For me in particular, I believe this book held more interest because it had so much to do with the medical world and the controversy behind it. It delved into things that I have been realizing for awhile now, things that if I didn't work in the medical field... might go unnoticed. I'm glad to have read it but I'm not sure I would pick up anything else by him, mostly because reading about poker sounds downright dull.

Happy Reading,
AmberBug… (more)