Running the Table: The Legend of Kid Delicious, the Last Great American Pool Hustler » (None)

L. JON WERTHEIM is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated and the author of five books, including Blood in the Cage, a chronicle of the rise of mixed martial arts, and Running the Table, about a bipolar pool hustler named Kid Delicious, which has been optioned for film by Tom Hanks's Playtone and is currently in development. His work has been featured in The Best American Sports Writing numerous times.

“A tremendously satisfying road story. What makes Running the Table so special is not the pool prowess of its protagonist but the unlikely bond between two wildly different young men who find each other through an exhilarating, often infuriating game.”—Los Angeles Times

Running the Table spins the outrageous tale of Kid Delicious, an affable skilled pool shark from New Jersey, and his studly if less talented setup man, Bristol Bob. Wertheim follows this mismatched pair of sidekicks as they go underground to learn the art of the hustle while experiencing the highs and lows of life on the road. Their four-year odyssey takes them from podunk pool halls to slick urban billiard rooms across America, some nights taking down as much as $30,000 and others ending up with just enough gas money to get home. With every stop the action gets hotter, the calls get closer, and Delicious’s prowess with a cue stick becomes more widely known. Ultimately the Kid sheds his cover, becoming perhaps the biggest sensation in professional pool since Minnesota Fats. Wertheim paints a lasting portrait of an insanely talented and magnetic hustler who is literally larger than life.

“Renders the trappings of a road player’s life . . . readers are taken on a sweet and varied ride.”—Sports Illustrated

L. Jon Wertheim is the author of three previous books and the forthcoming Blood in the Cage: Mixed Martial Arts, Pat Miletich, and the Furious Rise of the UFC. Film rights to Running the Table were optioned by Lions Gate, and the film is currently in development. He is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated and lives in New York.

Publishers Weekly

This new release from Sports Illustratedwriter Wertheim (Venus Envy), who expertly reports a true life story reminiscent of The Hustlerand The Color of Money, details the exploits of Danny "Kid Delicious" Basavich, who, after dropping out of high school in the 1990s, went from being a suicidal, overweight teen to a legendary pool player. Wertheim has created a new version of the American dream, one where the predictable life of white picket fences and green lawns is replaced by the adventures brought by the spin of a cue ball and wads of greenbacks continually changing hands. At the heart of the book is the engrossing tale of two distinct relationships. The first is about Kid's two selves-the personable, pool-playing wiz and the bedridden, depressed bundle of nerves. The other story line follows the ruckus raised by the pool-playing exploits of the fat and friendly Kid and his fit and feisty partner, Bristol Bob. Adding to the book's appeal is Wertheim's eloquent and vivid prose that so perfectly captures the squalid, sepia-toned environs of America's billiard halls that it's easy to forget that the events in this book reflect recent history and not pool's roaring 1920s heyday . (Oct.)

Prologue xi

1 The Opening Break 1 2 Hustlers’ Finishing School 16 3 The Ribbon of Highway 37 4 Life on the Rail 56 5 The Warsaw Pact 76 6 Kings of the Road 91 7 Philadelphia Story 105 8 Bristolicious, Inc. 114 9 Flying Solo 134 10 Wherever I May Roam 145 11 Pros and Cons 168 12 Roll Tide 190 13 Back in Form 203 14 A New Wingman 208 15 Running the Table 226

Epilogue 237 Glossary of Pool Terms 243 Acknowledgments 246

L. Jon Wertheim is the author of three previous books and the forthcoming Blood in the Cage: Mixed Martial Arts, Pat Miletich, and the Furious Rise of the UFC. Film rights to Running the Table were optioned by Lions Gate, and the film is currently in development. He is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated and lives in New York.