Dice : Deception, Fate and Rotten Luck

Jay, Ricky, Purcell, Rosamond

ISBN 10: 0971454817 / ISBN 13: 9780971454811

Published by Quantuck Lane Press & The Mill Road Collaborative, The, 2002

About this Item

Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages.

Seller Inventory # 4673596-6

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Dice : Deception, Fate and Rotten Luck
• Publisher: Quantuck Lane Press & The Mill Road Collaborative, The
• Publication Date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0971454817
• ISBN 13: 9780971454811
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st.
• Condition: Good

About this title

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.

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.