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The Premise
Young woman tries to make it in Los Angeles and stumbles upon an assistant position for aDarin Feinstein C-List celebrity. Under him, she helps organize and host underground poker games and recognizes she can make quite the penny by running the games herself.
The Good
+ Pulling back the veil... Fun to read how some of Hollywood's get their thrills. Most of them were as despicable as I imagined they would be.
The Bad
- Surprisingly undramatic and repetitive... This book kept me turning the pages, but the story never zigged like I hoped it might have. Aside from the last development with the FBI, there was no real drama for our narrator. Whatsmore, the games in LA and NY had no distinction and all of the players felt interchangeable and inconsequential (with the exception of the remarkably shallow Tobey Maguire).
- Stick to the script... This is supposed to be a poker story, not a love story. While detailing her relationship with Drew McCourt of Dodger ownership fame (Frank McCourt's son) might have served as therapeutic for this author, it was nothing but hackneyed for this reader.
- Remove the filter... I was hoping for an unfiltered, tell-all account, but I have the impression that Bloom was holding back on us a little bit (probably something to do with her trial).
... um, you seemed pretty guilty to me. But I don't know, I've only read your account of the events.
The Takeaway
○ Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction. - Erich Fromm
○ Gambling is a dangerous game, my friend.
The Verdict
This book's saving grace was its quick pace. Not all that entertaining and not all that well-written, so I'm going to have to deal this memoir TWO out of FIVE BAD BEATS.
Young woman tries to make it in Los Angeles and stumbles upon an assistant position for a
The Good
+ Pulling back the veil... Fun to read how some of Hollywood's get their thrills. Most of them were as despicable as I imagined they would be.
The Bad
- Surprisingly undramatic and repetitive... This book kept me turning the pages, but the story never zigged like I hoped it might have. Aside from the last development with the FBI, there was no real drama for our narrator. Whatsmore, the games in LA and NY had no distinction and all of the players felt interchangeable and inconsequential (with the exception of the remarkably shallow Tobey Maguire).
- Stick to the script... This is supposed to be a poker story, not a love story. While detailing her relationship with Drew McCourt of Dodger ownership fame (Frank McCourt's son) might have served as therapeutic for this author, it was nothing but hackneyed for this reader.
- Remove the filter... I was hoping for an unfiltered, tell-all account, but I have the impression that Bloom was holding back on us a little bit (probably something to do with her trial).
Unfortunately, it is not always a case of guilt or innocence. If I had chosen to fight, it would have cost me millions of dollars (I barely had enough money to travel to the mandated court dates) as well as years of my life—all with no guarantee of justice.
... um, you seemed pretty guilty to me. But I don't know, I've only read your account of the events.
The Takeaway
○ Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction. - Erich Fromm
○ Gambling is a dangerous game, my friend.
The Verdict
This book's saving grace was its quick pace. Not all that entertaining and not all that well-written, so I'm going to have to deal this memoir TWO out of FIVE BAD BEATS.
A rivetting, fast-paced story that I couldn't put down. Molly's pre-poker backstory is discussed, but it gets very little weight compared to the step by step process of building a poker empire. I loved her relationship with Reardon and how it wasn't the usual cliche. My only complaint about the book was that it ended kind of suddenly. Compared to how much detail was put into her rise and fall, I thought the legal issues could afford a little more attention and detail. But maybe there were legal reasons not to.
Not sure how I got started on this one. Not worth the time even at speedreading speeds.
This was a decent read for most of the book. The story started out pretty good and you got to know a lot about Molly, her state of mind coming into this world she would eventually take over. By about the middle when things start getting haywire the details kind of fall off. Now I'm not sure if the rhythm is thrown off because of pending litigation or because the time period was so manic and it was hard to recall for Molly and her cowriter who are trying to recapture that energy, but it became more of something I pushed to get through than something I wanted to get through. That's unfortunate because it's a wildly unique story that deserves to be told but maybe with a bit more nuance and care at times. I didn't get to understand enough about what Molly was making and just how the business worked other than tales of always recruiting and running games. It began to run together to me.
Quick beach- or plane-read. I felt the same way reading this as I did The Nanny Diaries: like I was skimming an UsWeekly magazine in the grocery’s check-out line, albeit for several hours.
Good, albeit a bit of a downer ending. Tobey Maguire sounds like a dick, though.
Fast and intriguing read into the world of high stakes amateur poker! Molly's memoirs centred on her journey from an Olympic-standard skier (and all round high flier) to being a "Poker Princess", organising high stakes poker games for the rich and famous, including notable movie stars like Tobey Maguire and Ben Affleck. If you're seen the movie and am curious to read the book (like me), then note that there are substantial differences between the book and the screenplay.
Aaron Sorkin's screenplay focuses a lot more about Molly being pursued by the FBI for alleged money laundering crimes, whereas the book is essentially the chronological story of Molly's journey and her personal relationships along the way. I liked the screenplay version a lot better because it explored some underlying themes that were glimpses in the book such as Molly's compulsion to win to "keep up" with her brothers because she felt insecure and inadequate and felt that her father always treated her brothers differently to how he treated her. The highs she got from organising (and eventually guaranteeing as the banker) the high stake poker games were more about her need to dominate over men, to show "who's boss" with men in her life and "winning" than it is about the money and the insane lifestyle - a theme that I wished Molly explored further in the book.
The movie is definitely more exciting and more fast paced but the book is an enjoyable read as well. The screenplay is also readily available on the internet.
Aaron Sorkin's screenplay focuses a lot more about Molly being pursued by the FBI for alleged money laundering crimes, whereas the book is essentially the chronological story of Molly's journey and her personal relationships along the way. I liked the screenplay version a lot better because it explored some underlying themes that were glimpses in the book such as Molly's compulsion to win to "keep up" with her brothers because she felt insecure and inadequate and felt that her father always treated her brothers differently to how he treated her. The highs she got from organising (and eventually guaranteeing as the banker) the high stake poker games were more about her need to dominate over men, to show "who's boss" with men in her life and "winning" than it is about the money and the insane lifestyle - a theme that I wished Molly explored further in the book.
The movie is definitely more exciting and more fast paced but the book is an enjoyable read as well. The screenplay is also readily available on the internet.
Interesting story, but not well written. In reading some of her interviews since, there are some things left out of the book and I definitely could feel those gaps. Again the story is fascinating and it’s a quick read so I still recommend it.
medium-paced
I finished Molly's Game while I was at work today and I've got to say, I'm really disappointed in how abruptly the book ends. I know I'm a lawyer so I'm probably more likely to be interested in the legal consequences of Molly's actions than a lot of people, but she really just summarizes what happens without going into any detail. It was disconcerting and annoying, honestly. That said, I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to seeing the movie soon. Hopefully.