This is a book about Dai Vernon. It is kind of a dual biography of him and the best professional cardsharp who ever lived.
The central plot involves Dai searching for this illusive cardsharp in hopes of learning an extremely advanced and powerful card sleight.
It is filled with the grittiness of REAL MAGIC. The obsession with pure sleight of hand that we have all felt.
It was fascinating to learn so much about The Professor, and his roots and development. It was heartening to feel such a sense of kinship with this master.
And the story was very coherent, with a great momentum. I just could not put this book down.

Indeed, this is a fine book.

Also, keep your eyes peeled for part II of David Ben's biography of Vernon.


Tom Frame

You're overstating "the best professional cardsharp who ever lived" in reference to Alan Kennedy.
Kennedy could do the center deal, but was a drunk. There's no real evidence he was proficient to the point of being "the best" at any other card sleights.

There's also no real evidence that Kennedy ever traveled outside of the area he lived in, so he never had to rise above those he played with locally.

Kennedy has a place in recorded history because Dai Vernon gave him one, but on his own he was quite an unspectacular character other than the fact that it was he who fist showed Vernon the center deal.

I agree though that the book is an excellent read.

Kennedy may have been a drunk, but according to Vernon (and as is stated in the book), when Kennedy demonstrated the center deal for the first time (for Vernon) Vernon did not see it, even though he was watching for it (multiple times). During the demo he was waiting (and watching)... never realizing it had already been done more than once right under his nose. Kennedy may not have been “the best professional cardsharp who ever lived” but I rank him (as Vernon did) somewhat higher than "quite an unspectacular character". Just my humble opinion... you are of course entitled to yours silverking.

My apologies if I overstate. Cheating at cards isn't a primary area of interest to me.
In point of fact, it is most likely that the best sharp who ever lived would not be someone anyone would have ever heard of.
See "S.W. Erdnase," "Dickey Richard," et al.

Dickey Richard from How to Cheat your Friends at Poker?

The world is full of people who can execute card sleights in front of laymen and other magicians and hustlers without detection. I'd guess numbering in the tens of thousands.

Vernon was a giant, but he was just as easy to deceive as anybody else when confronted with somebody who could execute a sleight without detection.

Kennedy did one sleight of record, was a drunk, and didn't travel out of his local area. If that makes him somewhat higher than "an unspectacular character" in your opinion, I support your right to hold that opinion as much as I hold my own.

My use of the word "unspectacular" isn't meant as an insult.
Much like the Britland/Gazzo take on Walter Scott, I find that when somebody makes it into a book, folks tend to create a far larger image in their minds than reality actually supported.

Regardless, the Karl Johnson book IMHO was about Vernon, not Kennedy. It's a great read, and an important look at how Vernon fed his obsession with gambling secrets. Because of Vernon's lifelong telling of the Alan Kennedy story, Kennedy has certainly entered the realm of well known characters in the field.
I don't think he was anywhere near as well known until Karl Johnson wrote his book though, which is actually my point.

The point I was making... the center deal was executed four times as Vernon watched for it. Vernon assumed it had not been done... yet Kennedy had performed it four times and dealt Vernon four kings. Having a slight go undetected is one thing, doing it four times while (someone like) Vernon is not only sitting across from you, but also watching specifically for you to carry out the slight is another. Vernon considered Kennedy spectacular enough to spend numerous years searching for him so that he could learn the slight from him… a slight he had up to then considered impossible. We'll have to disagree on this one... I give the guy more credit than you.

Vernon didn't spend "numerous years searching" for Alan Kennedy, he didn't even know who he was until the moment he met him.

Vernon was obsessed with gambling sleights, and would do almost anything and go anywhere to learn them.
The center deal was on his list of "wants", and he made serious efforts to learn it. But at no point was he looking specifically for Alan Kennedy the man, he was just looking for a center dealer who would tip the work to him.

Whether Vernon considered the center deal impossible or not is open for debate. You could argue that he didn't consider it impossible at all, which was why he was looking for it.
I believe he considered it not only possible, but highly probable, and wanted to learn a method for executing the sleight that had already achieved success at the card table.
That's what he found with Kennedy.

Vernon didn't know what to look for when first watching Kennedy, so to not have seen anything is hardly surprising.
Vernon didn't know whether Kennedy's deal was a strength move or a subtlety move.
I'm not sure how much weight one can attach to not catching a card sleight you've never seen before, whether you're Vernon, or a lesser god.

I am away from home (in a hotel) at the moment, therefore I do not have access to the book, but I do believe you are mistaken. While it is true that Vernon did not know Kennedy by name, it was my understanding (from reading the book) that Vernon was searching specifically for him. He had heard of a sharp who could do the center deal flawlessly... he was tracking Kennedy (even though he did not know his name). He was not, as you wrote, just looking for a center dealer who would tip the work to him. If my memory serves me correctly, this is pointed out in the first chapter of the book in which he is gathering information from a person in jail (somewhere) who has seen (with his own eyes) the "mystery man" (Kennedy) do the center deal flawlessly. Vernon was searching for Kennedy. Maybe someone else whom has read the book can verify this (or strike it down... it would not be the first time I was wrong ). Critter... do you recall?

Also, I believe Vernon thought the slight impossible (or at least not feasible) until her heard about this mysterious person whom could do it so well (which wound up being Kennedy).

In any case... no need to beat a dead horse here. As to whether it was spectacular or not, what Kennedy was able to achieve (in Vernon's presence), we will have to agree to disagree. I suppose either I am easily impressed or you are difficult to impress... or maybe it is a bit of both. In the grand scheme of things it matters little. We do agree the book is a good read and perhaps we have persuaded a few folks to pick up the tome and read it. Cheers silverking.

Sparks, you are absolutely correct in your summation of Vernon's search for Kennedy.

Although he didn't know Kennedy by name, and didn't know anything at all about him other than he was rumored to be able to do a center deal, he did in fact seek him out.

My point was that Vernon knew nothing at all about Kennedy other than what he was told by the Mexican chap. In effect, Vernon was searching for a myth and found a man.

I'm not sure we need to agree to disagree, but rather enjoy our exchange for whatever additional perspective it gives to the story

For those who haven't caught the drift of this thread so far, as sparks points out this book is a terrific read for those interested in this kind of history, or those just looking for an incredibly well written book looking at one mans obsession with card-sharps.

That's the character, yes. If he is a real guy, that isn't his real name. I was making a point that the good cardsharps usually used aliases even when doing something public. Sorry if that was grammatically a poor paragraph. Hydrocodone. Back. Ouch.

Coincidentally, I just picked this book off my shelf last night to page through again. I guess Revelation jogged my memory of how much I liked this. It's a wonderful story I recommend for everyone. Incidentally, does anyone know when the next Ben book is due?

This book is a really good read.

As an experiment, after I finished it, I handed it to my girlfriend to read and she really, really enjoyed it.

Tangentially, a few months later, I bought the movie "Shade" and she and I curled up on the couch to watch it. When Gabriel Byrne (as Charlie Miller) mumbled "I'm a dice man" my girlfriend burst into laughter. (She remembered the Charlie Miller story from the book.)

There are probably six people on the planet who've never done a top palm AND still got that joke. I was very proud of her.

I thought the book was very well written, and had a very nice sense of time and place. It was very vividly constructed.

I just finished reading the paperback edition (no illustrations or pictures). I was wondering if the hardbound edition of this book has any illustrations or pictures? I loved reading this book!

Thanks,
Sam

Yes, the hardback has an eight page glossy inserted section with about fifteen or so photos.

Thank You!