
The Noble Hustleby Colson Whitehead
Reviewed by Andrew H.
Colson Whitehead’s latest, The Noble Hustle,is the darkly humorous tale of him joining the World Series of Poker (WSOP) after a lifetime of playing $5 buy in games with friends. The book opens with the definition of anhedonia, which is an inability to feel pleasure. Whitehead peppers the tale with anecdotes about the customs of his fictional home country, the Republic of Anhedonia. I’m sure that other anhedonians will find some small pleasure in The Noble Hustle, recognizing Whitehead’s self-deprecating humor as a familiarity in their own lives.
The Noble Hustle is funny, but the humor is couched in Whitehead’s own depression and his lack of poker skills when it comes to tournament style play. It’s a dry, dark humor, but it is pitch perfect. The WSOP is as big a tournament one can enter, so the cards…
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