num_pages: 224
description: When it was first published in 1959, The Hustler was the first—and the best—novel written about billiards in the 400-year history of the game. The book quickly won a respected readership and later an audience for the movie with the same name starring Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason. The Hustler is about the victories and losses of one "Fast" Eddie Felson, a poolroom hustler who travels from town to town conning strangers into thinking they could beat him at the game when in fact, he is a skillful player who has never lost a game. Until he meets his match in Minnesota Fats, the true king of the poolroom, causing his life to change drastically. This is a classic tale of a man's struggle with his soul and his self-esteem.
language: English
title: The Hustler
titlecomplete: The Hustler (Eddie Felson, #1)
genres: 20th Century, Sports, Crime, Literature, Classics, Novels, Drama, Fiction, Contemporary, Mystery
ratings_count: 3593
series: Eddie Felson
publisher: Da Capo Press