Synopsis
Plato said God invented dice. This we learn from one of Ricky Jay's fascinating essays in a delightful small volume that takes us from the earliest forms (astragalithe heel bones of hoofed quadrupeds, four of whose six sides were used for gaming) to the myriad types of "loading" and other means of cheating with dice in the modern era. Along the way we discover that Augustus, Caligula, and Nero were all inveterate players, that Queen Elizabeth issued a search and seizure order against the manufacture of false dice in 1598, and that dice made from celluloid, invented in 1869, remained stable for decades, and thenin a flashbegan to decompose. These are the dice of Rosamond Purcell's luminous and seductive photographs, images which transform entropy to an art form. Jay and Purcell give us a dual meditation on dice that will educate us and amuse us at the same time. 13 color photographs.
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About the Authors
Ricky Jay is one of the world's great sleight-of-hand artists and an expert on the world of fantastic entertainment. His award-winning one-man shows were directed by David Mamet, in whose many films Mr. Jay has appeared. He is author of New York Times Notable Books Learned Pigs & Fireproof Women, Jay's Journal of Anomalies, Extraordinary Exhibitions, and Dice: Deception, Fate & Rotten Luck with Rosamond Purcell. He lives in Los Angeles.
Rosamond Purcell is the author of Bookworm and Owls Head. She lives in Medford, Massachusetts.
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Dice: Deception, Fate & Rotten Luck
Seller: 2nd Life Books, Burlington, NJ, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: good. Used book in good condition. May have some wear to binding, spine, cover, and pages. Some light highlighting markings writing may be present. May have some stickers and or sticker residue present. May be Ex-lib. copy. May NOT include discs, or access code or other supplemental material. We ship Monday-Saturday and respond to inquiries within 24 hours. Seller Inventory # BXM.9K6W
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Dice: Deception, Fate & Rotten Luck
Published by
Quantuck Lane Press, 2003
ISBN 10: 1593720300
ISBN 13: 9781593720308
Used
Soft cover
First Edition
Seller: A Book Preserve/ John A. Crider, Bookseller, Columbus, OH, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. First Edition (stated). VG+ Paperbound. Quantuck Lane Press, 2003 (printed in Italy). 66 pp. Photographs by Rosamond Purcell. Brief anecdotally-fueled treatise on dice by Ricky Jay, sleight-of-hand artist, actor, and author of cult rarity "Cards as Weapons." Ships fast with tracking. Seller Inventory # AB0005/AZX2-B45-005