The Hustler (novel)

Last updated
The Hustler
The Hustler (Tevis novel - cover art).jpg
First edition
Author Walter Tevis
Publisher Harper & Brothers
Publication date
1959

The Hustler is a 1959 debut novel by American writer Walter Tevis. It tells the story of a young pool hustler, Edward "Fast Eddie" Felson, who challenges the legendary Minnesota Fats. [1] The novel was well-received by critics, and was adapted into a 1961 film of the same title, starring Paul Newman as Fast Eddie, Jackie Gleason as Minnesota Fats, and Piper Laurie as Sarah. A sequel, The Color of Money , was published in 1984.

Contents

Synopsis

Eddie "Fast Eddie" Felson is a young pool hustler from Oakland, California, who travels the country with his middle-aged partner Charlie Fenniger, pretending to be a worse pool player than he actually is to win bets. He goes with Charlie to Chicago, where he plays the legendary pool player George Hegerman, known as Minnesota Fats, at Brannigan's pool hall. After beating Fats in a number of games, at one time being ahead of him by $18,000, he gets drunk and proceeds to lose to Fats, collapsing exhausted after 40 hours of playing. Eddie leaves Charlie without saying goodbye and returns to hustling.

Eddie meets a college student, Sarah, at a bus station. They commence an affair and begin to live together. Returning to Brannigan's he encounters Bert, a professional gambler, who tells Eddie that despite his talent he lost to Fats due to lack of character, as well as an ingrained eagerness to lose. Nevertheless he offers to back him in a game with a rich pool player in Kentucky named Findlay, taking 75 percent of any winnings while absorbing all losses and paying expenses. Eddie turns him down and resumes hustling. Disregarding Bert's advice, he hustles pool at a pool hall patronized by tough migrants from Appalachia. They break his thumbs.

After recuperating at Sarah's apartment, he accepts Bert's offer. Leaving Sarah behind in Chicago, they travel to Kentucky and Eddie plays Findlay at his home in Lexington. It turns out that Findlay plays billiards, not pool, which puts Eddie at a disadvantage. During the game he realizes that Findlay is a billiard hustler. Though chagrined that he is being "hustled," Eddie has an epiphany. Watching Findlay falter, he realizes the validity of what Bert had been telling him about winning being everything, how people crave an excuse to lose, and how character is as important as skill. Despite continual pain in his thumbs, he wins against Findlay. He and Bert drive back to Chicago, where Eddie reunites with Sarah but does not move back in with her. He returns to Brannigan's where he sees Charlie, who says that he had been worried about him and flew out from Oakland to find him. He confesses that he had held out $5,000 in winnings and pays it to him. Eddie proceeds to play Minnesota Fats with his own money, and beats him.

Bert demands thirty percent of his winnings and says that he is his manager. Charlie backs him up. Eddie rejects paying Bert any money and shrugs off Bert's threat to have his thumbs and an arm broken, and ridicules Bert's intimation that he has criminal connections. As the novel ends, Eddie and Bert are at a stalemate.

Critical reception

New York Times critic Rex Lardner called the book "a tense, jolting trip to the tough, dusty, smoky, ball-clackety, money-filled world of the pool shark," and wrote that Tevis "writes like a streak, making straight pool as exciting as a Stanley Ketchell fight. This is a fine, swift, wanton, offbeat novel." [2]

An unsigned review in Time said that The Hustler "has its faults as a novel, but opens the door on a world that books have not yet made commonplace". It went on to say that: "The moral of The Hustler is obviously sententious, the love story is a cliche, and author Tevis' writing is sometimes too painfully exact. What remains is a succession of scenes in which a smoky, seedy world becomes sharply alive, and where crises are intense even though the scene is grubby and the game is only pool." [3]

Kirkus Reviews called it a "compact, tidy novel", and said: "Through a language of casual statement which does not disguise the seriousness of its intent, this exploration of moral experience is a pithy and competent performance." [4]

Background

Tevis grew up in Kentucky, and became good friends with a youth whose father bought him a pool table to keep him out of trouble. He was introduced to gambling when he was in the Navy, and a writer for Kentucky Monthly observed in 2019 that "The combination of pool and gambling started the clock ticking toward what was to come." [5] He called himself as a "B-minus" pool player who could not play professionals with any hope of winning. [6]

The pool rooms described in the book were fictionalized by Tevis, and he insisted that despite claims by Rudolf Wanderone [7] to be the model of the character, Minnesota Fats was entirely fictional. He told an interviewer in 1981: "A lot of people ask me, 'When did you first meet Minnesota Fats?' And I feel like Walt Disney being asked, 'When did you meet Donald Duck?' Come on, I made him up. One of my contributions to American folklore." Tevis has described Fast Eddie's hometown of Oakland as a "disguised autobiographical reference" to San Francisco, where Tevis was born. [6]

A pool player named Eddie Parker asserted that he was the basis for the Fast Eddie character. But Tevis maintained that Fast Eddie was fictitious, and he resented assertions to the contrary, that he had "created such memorable characters out of mere reportage". After his death in 1984, his widow debunked claims for years that the Fast Eddie character was based on a real person. [8]

In 2019, a researcher examined the novel's original manuscript and found that Tevis had changed the character name from "New York Fats" to "Minnesota Fats," lending credence to the claim of Rudolf Wanderone, who called himself "New York Fats," that he was the inspiration for the character. [9]

Printing history

Available editions include:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Titanic Thompson</span> American gambler, golfer, and hustler

Alvin Clarence Thomas was an American gambler, golfer, and hustler, who killed five men but was never charged with a crime, better known as Titanic Thompson.

<i>The Color of Money</i> 1986 drama film by Martin Scorsese

The Color of Money is a 1986 American sports drama film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is the sequel to the 1961 film, The Hustler. Like the previous film, The Color of Money is based on the novel of the same name by Walter Tevis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Tevis</span> American writer (1928–1984)

Walter Stone Tevis Jr. was an American novelist and screenwriter. Three of his six novels were adapted into major films: The Hustler, The Color of Money and The Man Who Fell to Earth. A fourth, The Queen’s Gambit, was adapted into a miniseries with the same title and shown on Netflix in 2020. His books have been translated into at least 18 languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willie Mosconi</span> American pool player (1913–1993)

William Joseph Mosconi was an American professional pool player from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mosconi is widely considered one of the greatest pool players of all time. Between the years of 1941 and 1957, he won the World Straight Pool Championship nineteen times. For most of the 20th century, his name was essentially synonymous with pool in North America – he was nicknamed "Mr. Pocket Billiards" – and he was among the first Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame inductees. Mosconi pioneered and regularly employed numerous trick shots, set many records, and helped to popularize pool as a national recreation activity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rudolf Wanderone</span> American pool player

Rudolf Walter Wanderone, commonly known as Minnesota Fats, was an American professional pool player. Although he never won a major pool tournament as "Fats", he was at one time perhaps the most publicly recognized pool player in the United States—not only as a player, but also as an entertainer. Wanderone was inducted in 1984 into the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame for his decades-long public promotion of pool.

Hustling is the deceptive act of disguising one's skill in a sport or game with the intent of luring someone of probably lesser skill into gambling with the hustler, as a form of both a confidence trick and match fixing. It is most commonly associated with, and originated in pocket billiards (pool), but also can be performed with regard to other sports and gambling activities. Hustlers may also engage in "sharking"—distracting, disheartening, enraging, or even threatening their opponents—to throw them off. Hustlers are thus often called "pool sharks". Professional and semi-pro hustlers sometimes work with a "stakehorse"—a person who provides the money for the hustler to bet with —in exchange for a substantial portion of all winnings. Another form of hustling is challenging "marks" to bet on trick shots that seem nearly impossible but at which the hustler is exceptionally skilled. Chess hustlers are quite common in urban areas in the United States and elsewhere, often offering speed chess against any takers. Unlike most hustlers, chess hustlers are often assumed to be skilled and are seen as a challenge.

Hustler or hustlers may refer to:

Don Willis was a colorful pool hustler from Canton, Ohio, who was considered one of the greatest money players of all time. In the late 1940s and 1950s, when pool was in decline and cash prizes for pool tournaments did not pay enough for a full-time income, Willis chose to travel America playing private pool games for money alongside world champion Luther Lassiter.

Fast Eddie or Fast Eddy may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minnesota Fats</span> Fictional character

Minnesota Fats, or George Hegerman, is a fictional pool hustler created by American novelist Walter Tevis.

<i>The Hustler</i> 1961 gambling film by Robert Rossen

The Hustler is a 1961 drama film, directed by Robert Rossen. It tells the story of small-time pool hustler "Fast Eddie" Felson, who challenges legendary pool player "Minnesota Fats".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keith McCready</span> American pool player

Keith McCready is an American professional pool player who played under the nickname "Earthquake". At one time considered among the top players in America, McCready has been a traveling tournament competitor and notorious hustler since the 1970s. Known for comedically interacting with the audience during matches, McCready was also a contributing writer for InsidePool magazine between 2003 and 2006. He also had a supporting role as the hustler Grady Seasons in the 1986 film The Color of Money.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Staton</span> American pool player and restaurateur

William "Bill" Paul Staton, was an American professional pool player and restaurateur, nicknamed Weenie Beenie.

<i>The Color of Money</i> (novel) 1984 novel by Walter Tevis

The Color of Money is a 1984 novel by American novelist Walter Tevis. It is the sequel to his 1959 novel, The Hustler. It was his sixth and final book before his death in the year of publication.

<i>The Queens Gambit</i> (novel) 1983 novel by Walter Tevis

The Queen's Gambit is a 1983 American novel by Walter Tevis, exploring the life of fictional female chess prodigy Beth Harmon. A bildungsroman, or coming-of-age story, it covers themes of adoption, feminism, chess, drug addiction and alcoholism. The book was adapted for the 2020 Netflix miniseries of the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. T. S. Brown</span> Kentucky bourbon whiskey

J. T. S. Brown is a Kentucky bourbon whiskey produced by the Heaven Hill Distillery company. The distilling operation is in Louisville, Kentucky, and aging and bottling operations are in Bardstown, Kentucky. The primary expression of the brand is 40% alcohol by volume (ABV), or 80 U.S. proof. There is also a 100 proof bottled in bond version.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Myron McCormick</span> American actor

Myron McCormick was an American actor of stage, radio and film.

"Pool Hall Blues" is a 1990 episode of the American science fiction television series Quantum Leap. Lead character Sam Beckett "leaps" into the body of an African American man in 1954: Charlie "Black Magic" Walters, one of the (fictional) greatest pool players in America, and a childhood mentor of supporting character Al. Beckett as Walters must help Walters's granddaughter keep her Chicago nightclub and rescue it from under the corrupting influence of a criminal loan shark. The episode, the 18th of season 2, was written by Randy Holland and directed by Joe Napolitano. It originally aired on March 14, 1990. The episode won the series its second of three consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Cinematography.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ronnie Allen (pool player)</span>

Ronnie Monroe "Fast Eddie" Allen was an American professional pool player. He was labeled as a pool "super star" in the prime of his pool-shooting career by his peers during pool's golden era.

"Fast Eddie" Parker was an American pool player, claimed by many to have been the inspiration for the character "Fast Eddie" Felson in the 1959 Walter Tevis novel The Hustler. In both the 1961 film adaptation and the 1986 sequel, Felson was played by Paul Newman.

References

  1. ↑ "Famed Pool Player, Minnesota Fats, Dies". Chicago Tribune . January 18, 1996. Archived from the original on March 24, 2022. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  2. ↑ Lardner, Rex (January 11, 1959). "Conning the Marks; The Hustler. By Walter Tevis". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on August 27, 2023. Retrieved August 27, 2023.
  3. ↑ "The Eight Ball". Time . Vol. 73, no. 2. January 12, 1959. pp. 89–90. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  4. ↑ "The Hustler by Walter Tevis". Kirkus Reviews . Archived from the original on August 27, 2023. Retrieved August 27, 2023.
  5. ↑ West, Gary P. (October 1, 2019). "The Real Hustler". KentuckyMonthly.com. Archived from the original on October 9, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  6. 1 2 Wolinsky, Richard; Davidson, Lawrence G.; Lupoff, Richard A. (August 1, 2019). "An Interview with Walter Tevis". Brick. Archived from the original on November 29, 2020. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  7. ↑ Putnam, Pat (October 14, 1968). "Victimized by a Kids' Game". Sports Illustrated . Vol. 29, no. 16. p. 82.
  8. ↑ Levy, Shawn (2009). Paul Newman: A Life. Crown. p. 169. ISBN   9780307353764. Archived from the original on August 29, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2023– via Google Books.
  9. ↑ Dyer, R. A. (November 2019). "Myth vs Reality: When Minnesota Fats and Walter Tevis' imagination collided". Billiards Digest. Archived from the original on 22 April 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.