Left Bank Books presents author Colson Whitehead, who will sign and discuss his humorous memoir, The Noble Hustle: Poker, Beef Jerky, and Death (Doubleday Books, May 2014), on Friday, June 6, 7pm, at Left Bank Books (399 N. Euclid).

The Noble Hustle is Pulitzer finalist Colson Whitehead’s hilarious memoir of his search for meaning at high-stakes poker tables, described as Eat, Pray, Love for depressed shut-ins. On one level, The Noble Hustle is a familiar species of participatory journalism – a longtime neighborhood poker player, Whitehead was given a $10,000 stake and an assignment from the online magazine Grantland to see how far he could get in the World Series of Poker. But since it stems from the astonishing mind of Colson Whitehead, the book is a brilliant, hilarious, weirdly profound, and ultimately moving portrayal of the human condition.

Of The Noble Hustle, a starred review from Publishers Weekly says, “Whitehead serves up an engrossing mix of casual yet astute reportage and hang-dog philosophizing, showing us that, for all poker’s intricate calculations and shrewd stratagems, everything still hangs on the turn of a card.” Mother Jones claims, “The Noble Hustle, part love letter, part dark confessional, captures perfectly the mix of neurosis and narrative that makes gambling so appealing.”

Colson Whitehead is the New York Times bestselling author of Zone One, Sag Harbor, The Intuitionist, John Henry Days, Apex Hides the Hurt, and one collection of essays, The Colossus of New York. A Pulitzer Prize finalist, a recipient of a Whiting Writers’ Award, and a MacArthur Fellowship, he lives in New York City.