Fading Hearts on the River

March 10, 2014
Poet and professor Haxton (Nakedness, Death, and the Number Zero) delivers a thoughtful and gripping memoir of life with his son, Isaac, who takes time off from his undergraduate studies in computer science to pursue a living as a player in the high stakes world of professional poker playing. Beginning in Las Vegas, where Isaac is in the finals of the World Poker Tour, and ending with Isaac’s marriage to his longtime girlfriend, Haxton weaves the events leading to his son’s poker winnings with heartfelt accounts of various earlier times, including Isaac’s youth and his early infatuation. Haxton nicely touches on the mathematics and psychology of poker playing. While recognizing at all times that playing poker in many ways “can be a difficult way of life,” his gift for the poetic and lyrical shines, as he presents highly sympathetic descriptions of the denizens of casinos around the world where the various tournaments he describes are located.

May 15, 2014
A man ponders his son's pokercentric life.While studying for a college degree, Isaac Haxton decided to leave school for a year to play professional poker. With all the excitement that implies, Isaac's father, poet Brooks Haxton (English/Syracuse Univ.; They Lift Their Wings to Cry, 2008, etc.), doesn't focus simply on the poker angle. Instead, the narrative moves through a series of twists covering every aspect of the author's son's life. While many of Haxton's flights of fancy fit the subject matter-e.g., his son's early interest in math problems, lifelong love of games in general and childhood ability at chess-some simply do not, as when his daughter had to give up gymnastics. Other tangential tales are related to each other but still seem out of place in the larger context. For instance, both the author and his son were hospitalized around the same time, and Haxton relates both accounts. While both medical tales begin with serious intrigue, they also fizzle out in similar manners. In an instant, Haxton has moved on, and readers are left to assume that all ended well and to wonder what made the stories worth telling. The author also introduces other elements of the overall gambling story but doesn't fully flesh them out-e.g., a government seizure of Isaac's winnings. One compelling factor to which Haxton frequently returns is the idea of chance. He puts his poetry skills to excellent use, spinning out language that is often beautiful and evocative. The book is not just about his son's competitive gambling career; it's also a poetic memorial to the poignant moments in his life, his son's life and their shared life. Haxton also includes a helpful glossary of card-playing terms.Not without flaws but an appealing, intriguing read for those fascinated by poker, chance and unique father-son relationships.

COPYRIGHT(2014) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

April 1, 2014
This is an odd, wonderful little reminiscence written by professor-poet Haxton (They Lift Their Wings to Cry, 2008), concerning his poker-playing son, who doesn't return to Brown for his final year (and his degree) but instead chooses to win money via poker. Which he does. Which he then loses but later regains. Haxton somewhat wistfully discusses the family histories on both sides that led to gambling in the bones. He analyzes how contemporary players are brilliant strategists, hampered or blessed by chance. He remembers his sweet son's brilliance as a toddler, and he writes, at times, about his own troubled nature, one his psychiatrist wife considers dysthymic but he prefers to call melancholic. The young-father and young-son memories and intensely detailed scenes from contemporary poker tournaments are intercut with poignant musings on luck, medical problems, the art of the tell, how and where free will fits in, magic, and chess. The book ends with a glossary and a List of Hands by Value, but this tale is not just for gamblers. It is for anyone who likes to think about how to make luck happen. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)