Amoralman, Derek Delgaudio

 

Amoralman: A true story and other lies by Derek Delgaudio.  I'm pretty sure that this review form the New York Times is the reason it is on my list.  Honesty and lies have been something I confronted hard after meeting my wife (I was on the lie side) and I dealt with it by doing my very best to simply be honest.  It seemed interesting to hear how someone else dealt with it.  Oh, and magic.

Started: 7/11/2021
Completed: 7/12/2021
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: New York Times

Review:

Poker.  Magic. Plato's freakin' cave of shadows?!?  What's not to like?

Delgaudio does a good job explaining how his life alone as a child helped him develop the skills to be a crooked poker dealer which lead to an existential experience of Plato's cave of shadows with himself cast as the puppeteer.  This is not a huge a book, but it packs a lot into a small space.  His relationship with another crooked dealer sort of provides a framework and a cautionary tale all in one.  This book does not really deal with honesty and lies the way I had hoped, but it does peek into honesty from the darkness of lies and one hopes that Delgaudio goes on to expand that opening and be birthed into a better life.