\"In writing about poker Jim McManus has managed to write about everything, and it's glorious.\"\u0026#8212;David Sedaris\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/i\u003e-bestselling author James McManus offers up a collection of seven stories narrated by Vincent Killeen, an Irish Catholic altar boy, in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Persuaded at age eight by his grandmother that entering the priesthood will guarantee salvation for every member of his family, Vince eagerly commits to attending a Jesuit seminary for high school. As the meaning of a vow of celibacy becomes clearer to him, however, and he is exposed to the irresistible temptations of poker and girls, life as a seminarian begins to seem less appealing. These autobiographical stories are enlightening and evocative, providing keen, often humorous insight into Catholicism, faith, celibacy and its opposite, as well as America's\u0026#8212;and increasingly the world's\u0026#8212;favorite card game.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJames McManus \u003c/b\u003ehas been called \"poker's Shakespeare.\" He is the \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/i\u003e-bestselling author of \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003ePositively Fifth Street: Murderers, Cheetahs, and Binion's World Series of Poker \u003c/i\u003e\u003c/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eCowboys Full: The Story of Poker\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/i\u003e, among others. He has been the poker columnist for the \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c/i\u003e\u003c/i\u003eand currently writes the history column for \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eCardPlayer\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/i\u003e. His work has also appeared in \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eHarper's\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Believer\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eParis Review\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eEsquire\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/i\u003e, and in \u003ci\u003eBest American \u003c/i\u003eanthologies for poetry, sports writing, science and nature, and magazine writing. He has spoken about poker at Yale, Harvard, Google, Goldman Sachs, and on numerous media outlets, and is the recipient of the Peter Lisagor Award for Sports Journalism and fellowships from the Guggenheim and Rockefeller foundations, among other awards. He teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.\u003cbr\u003e
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