Color of Money M/TV

by Walter Tevis

Book Overview

"Tevis in unequaled when it comes to creating and sustaining the tension of a high stakes game. Even readers who have never lifted a cue will be captivated."--Publishers Weekly Twenty years after he... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0446344192
• ISBN13: 9780446344197
• Release Date: January 1986
• Publisher: Warner Books (NY)
• Length: 294 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Forget Tom Cruise

If you enjoyed the movie "The Color of Money" try the book from which it is loosely based. Not giving anything away, there is no Tom Cruise character, nor his movie girlfriend. If you are an "early to mid-boomer" you may especially relate to this work even if your eyes glaze over at the mention of "pool". If you read/saw "The Hustler", even better.

The Vince T-Shirt Was Scorcese's Invention!

I have to admit I'm a fan of Scorcese's film sharing the same title, but these are two completely different stories. I was shocked at how little the two have in common, which is almost nothing. Tevis's book paints a very different picture of Fast Eddie in the 80's. Tevis shows us a dejected man who let years of his life just pass by idly while he ran a small pool hall, as opposed to Scorcese's Fast Eddie who had become a successful liquor salesman (ironically, Tevis's Felson failed as a salesman). Not only that, the Vince character (and his t-shirt) does not really exist in Tevis's book - Felson does not take on a prodigy at all. Even Fats is back in the book. All this drivel I've written here is to encourage you to read the book. A completely different story than what the movie offers, but one more plausibly in line with The Hustler (the book). As usual, Tevis is deft at writing the intricacies of pool and the psyche that surrounds it.

Pool Pool Pool

Great book -- maybe better than the Hustler. Ignore the movie. This is a handbook for living. It didn't change my life but it would have if i read it when i was 15. Will make an excellent bar mitzvah gift.

A master of the craft delivers

The color of money is, as a novel, far superior to the filmed version starring Cruise and Newman. The film is underrated, and has many fine points but when compared to the book it is very, very disappointing. The novel starts slowly, retracing the last 25 years of hustler Eddie Felson and him building a new future for himself. By the last chapter the book is absolutely galloping along. The final tournament scenes show off probably some of the best writing on pool that has ever been accomplished, really taking you into each game and feeling what Eddie feels, from his jealousy at the young stars to his own self-realization at and through the green felt. Not only a book for pool enthusiasts, rather for anyone who enjoys good pacey writing and literature as art.

FORGET THE MOVIE, READ THE BOOK!!!!

Don't let the movie fool you, this novel(completely different!) is vastly more enriching, entertaining and exciting. Bear in mind also that this novel was written years before the film. The author Walter Tevis was sorely disappointed with how Hollywood completely butchered his original story.The film was really just a vehicle to showcase Tom Cruise with Paul Newman and nothing much else. The book on the other hand is a deeper exploration of "Fast" Eddie that includes his childhood, a reunion with Minnesota Fats (yes, Fats is back!), and a desparate plan to come out from under a mountain of bills and broken dreams. The "Tom Cruise" character is actually a cocaine-sniffing, hyper-manic badboy/nememis NOT PROTEGE to Fast Eddie. And the pool action is many times more riveting than anything in that very often boring movie. This is not about glitz and glamor Hollywood style, it's about a desparate, aging man trying to reclaim what was lost and what was denied in order to redeem himself.I first read this book as a teenager and was enthralled. If you liked the original Hustler, you'll love this, and if you didn't care all that much for the movie then by all means check it out!!! I also recommend Tevis' The Queen's Gambit. After back to back reads of Tevis chess and Tevis pool, you're guaranteed to be left reeling, drained, jolted, and then clamoring for more. But then of course sadly, Walter Tevis is a writer deceased. If only Hollywood could've gotten it right!