Poker and Pop Culture: Telling the Story of America's Favorite Card Game

by Martin Harris

Overview

Poker & Pop Culture provides a comprehensive survey of cultural productions in which poker is of thematic importance, showing how the game's portrayal in the mainstream has increased poker's relevance to American history and shaped the way we think about the game and its significance.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781909457980
Publisher:	D&B Publishing
Publication date:	06/07/2019
Pages:	432
Sales rank:	1,090,884
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Martin Harris is a writer, teacher, and poker reporter who has covered the game for the last dozen years. He earned a Ph.D. in English from Indiana University at Bloomington and has taught full- and part-time at the university level for two decades. He currently teaches in the American Studies program at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, where his courses include "Poker in American Film and Culture" and "Tricky Dick: Richard Nixon, Poker, and Politics."

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments 8

Introduction 10

1 Poker in the Past 17

2 Before Poker 24

3 Poker in Print 32

4 Poker on the Mississippi 42

5 Poker in the Old West 56

6 Poker in the Civil War 77

7 Poker in Clubs 90

8 Poker on the Bookshelf 110

9 Poker in the Home 134

10 Poker in the White House 148

11 Poker During Wartime 168

12 Poker in the Board Room 180

13 Poker in Folklore 190

14 Poker in Casinos 201

15 Poker on the Newsstand 213

16 Poker in the Movies 234

17 Poker in Literature 272

18 Poker on the Radio 288

19 Poker in Music 298

20 Poker on Television 312

21 Poker on the Computer 338

22 Poker Under Siege 354

23 Poker in the Future 367

Notes and References 372

Bibliography and Image Credits 396

Index 472

Editorial Reviews

Martin Harris’s Poker & Pop Culture is a lively, well researched, highly readable account of the game’s hold on the popular imagination, revealing its history — from Shakespeare to ESPN, Flash Kate to James Bond, Tony Soprano to Daniel Negreanu — with 1,001 telling details. A+ Americana, and then some

James McManus

I always wondered what ‘exhaustively researched’ really meant. Now I know. Harris has unearthed a staggering array of juicy poker facts and lore from literature, movies, television, music and history, but his accomplishment goes far beyond its remarkable thoroughness, giving context, stature and meaning to America’s game, conveying it all in a delightfully elegant prose that is as heady and surprising as hitting a one-outer on the river. Poker & Pop Culture is a fist-pumping winner of a book.

Peter Alson

This book had to be written, and only one person could write it. Poker’s place in our culture has been Martin’s passion and expertise as long as I’ve known him. Poker is a story of a thousand stories, and they’re all here.

Tommy Angelo

A thorough, well-informed and highly entertaining exploration of the cultural riches bred by poker, explaining why the game remains so quintessentially American while growing ever more universal.

Anthony Holden

Whether you’re interested in either poker or American history, Poker & Pop Culture delivers in spades. I couldn’t recommend it more and honestly believe it deserves a spot on every poker player’s bookshelf.

PokerNews.com - Chad Holloway