The Hustler: A Novel

You probably know the story of “The Hustler” from the 1961 Paul Newman movie of the same name. It’s the tale of small time pool hustler Eddie Felson who wants to move from the small time to the big time by playing the best pool player, Minnesota Fats. He loses to Fats, falls for a woman, gets his thumbs broken, is taught how to win by gambler Bert, and has a rematch with Fats. It’s all there, the pleasure comes in the prose of Tevis’ writing.The prose is sepia tinged as it should be for the world it’s conjuring for the reader. Tevis uses highly descriptive language, he‘s painting the words on thickly. I recently read Tevis’ “ The Man Who Fell to Earth ” which was written only about five years after “The Hustler” and he doesn’t use the thickly descriptive adjectives as he does in “Hustler.” It’s obviously a choice Tevis made in the writing.The conclusion of “The Hustler” is a little more straightforward than the movie, and leaves you a bit more in limbo, because that’s where Tevis’ leaves Eddie, in limbo with Sarah. Are they made for each other? Are they both locked into their “contract of depravity” and they can only be with each other? After the second match with Minnesota Fats has Bert sunk his claws far enough into Eddie to keep him hustling for him?“Walter Tevis’ “The Hustler” was an instant classic. It received critical acclaim at it’s publication and of course being made into a movie. Tevis’ may have been a bit out of step with his contemporaries in incorporating a more traditional writing style than Jack Kerouac or The Beats but Tevis’ style holds up after almost sixty years and still reads as freshly as the day it was written.

"The Hustler" is related to the movie by Paul Newman, and later the movie "The Color of Money" with both Newman and Tom Cruise. The book is a surprisingly good classic though, since it opens up the hidden struggle of every man: how should we respond to life challenges? Hidden within every man is the secret desire to win and dominate. If there are docile men out there, it is not because they are born that way, but it is because they have subconsciously developed a losing mentality, complete with the accompanying excuses and rationalization. This book beautifully dissect the psychology behind it, but even more than that, strongly suggests a way out of this negative spiral.A very masculine book; I believe every man should read this, and unloose their shackle of a humdrum life and start living life the way it has always been intended to be: victorious, purposeful, and in full.As a side note, most females will not be able to resonate with the concepts in this book, however, it will give you a fascinating insight into the male's psyche, and might make them better understand what is going on in the minds of their counter-gender.

This book by Walter Tevis truly evokes the sights, smells and sounds of the old-time pool halls. If you grew up shooting pool in the 1960's, you undoubtedly knew the movie based on this book and quoted it extensively. And knew the names of the real pool hustlers on which the book was based. If you played a good stick, perhaps you had a nickname bestowed on you, like the many characters in the book.The movie was quite faithful to the book source material, though the movie expanded substantially on the Sarah (played by Piper Laurie) character with a more made for the movies ending. At 224 pages, the book is a quick read that vividly evokes the world of the pool hustler.A Walter Tevis renewal is underway with the success of The Queen's Gambit on Netflix, another of Tevis's novels that faithfully describes the environment of high-level competition and the toll paid by the players. While neither chess nor pool are widely played in today's world, Tevis's work is worth studying for the direct way his words create the worlds these characters inhabited. Tevis delves into the recesses of the human spirit in these two books and reveals how character (or lack thereof) is key to winning or losing in the game of life as well as chess or pool.

Wanted to read the book after seeing the movie years ago. Of course they differ. The end of the book is a little different than the movie ending. I like the book better. Although the book is a bit of a downer. Eddie's relationship with Sarah. His own inner demons and Sarah 's make for a very dark read. Also the pain of playing pool mental and physical.

"The Hustler" is one of my all-time favorite movies and after many years I finally got around to reading the original Walter Tevis novel. The movie is pretty true to the book but improved the book a great deal by resolving the story line of Fast Eddie's relationship with Sarah. The book never takes that step and also leaves it ambiguous as to whether Eddie will ever play high-stakes pool again whereas the movie makes his choice very clear. A lot of the book's dialogue was reproduced word-for-word in the movie and Bert is less sinister in the book than he is in the movie."The Hustler" is a fast, lean read and worthwhile if you're a big fan of the movie. Written in a time when just about any town of reasonable size had a pool hall, young readers would probably be clueless reading the book now.

Fast Eddie is a very interesting character, and this was a great read after watching The Color of Money. There were glimpses of Fast Eddie in the 1986 movie with Tom Cruise, and it was nice to be able to read about his story. I have yet to watch the movie with Paul Newman, George C Scott and Jackie Gleason, so I have read that it is a classic. This was an enjoyable book for sure.

When ambitious Fast Eddie Felson rolls into Chicago his one aim is to beat one of the top pool players at Benningtons namely Minnesota Fats. But in this classic novel by Walter Tevis the young pool hustler goes through a kind of personal hell to reach his journey’s end. At his lowest point he meets the tragic, noble Sarah and their rocky relationship is the cornerstone of the novel counterpointing the many scenes of pool games with a strong sense of emotion. Although overshadowed by the classic Paul Newman film the book is actually much richer and more detailed, showing Eddie as a cold, selfish character who treats Sarah unfairly but tragically doesn’t know any other way. Even outside the pool hall he is a hustler, while the dialogue crackles with tension and determination. To summarise this is an essential novel for any fan of the film or curious reader who is seeking something vintage but by no means dated. Rereading The Hustler again after such a long time I still found the book an absolute classic. Enjoy.

Just a magic book.First read it 50 years ago .Travis is a beautiful writer , you really feel you are there. Just loved the book.

Wonderful 'noir' piece, & to be complemented with Newman's sultry, atmospheric film version. If enjoyed, read Richard Stark's 'Point Blank' (originally, 'The Hunter').

Well written and informative novel

Fantastic novel, but the cover seems to be made of an odd material