The Hustler (novel)
![]() First edition | |
Author | Walter Tevis |
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Publisher | Harpers |
Publication date | 1959 |
The Hustler is a 1959 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 Hustler was adapted into a 1961 film of the same title, starring Paul Newman as Fast Eddie and Jackie Gleason as Minnesota Fats. The film was a critical and commercial success and was nominated for multiple Academy Awards. It remains widely regarded as a classic.
Synopsis[]
After losing to Fats, Eddie could spiral down to the scrapheap, but he meets Bert Gordon, a stakehorse. Bert teaches him about winning, or more particularly about losing. Tautly written, it is a treatise on how someone, with all of the skills, can lose if he "wants" to lose; how a loser is beaten by himself, not by his opponent; and how he can learn to win, if he can look deeply enough into himself.
The book was followed by the sequel The Color of Money.
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Printing history[]
Available editions include:
- 1976: ISBN 0-380-00860-2
- 1979: ISBN 1-56849-044-5
- 2006: ISBN 1-56025-473-4
References[]
- ^ "FAMED POOL PLAYER, MINNESOTA FATS, DIES". Chicago Tribune. 1996-01-18. Retrieved 2021-09-12.
- 1959 American novels
- Novels by Walter Tevis
- American novels adapted into films
- American sports novels
- Cue sports literature
- Harper & Brothers books
- 1959 debut novels
- 1950s novel stubs