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Running the Table: The Legend of Kid Delicious, the Last Great American Pool Hustler Posters
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Rating:  -
This is the uplifting "rags to riches" story of the "Minnesota Fats" of our generation. Danny Basavich, aka "Kid Delicious," an overweight slob who, throughout his life was sent in and out of bi-polar depressive tailspins as a result of having been made into a piñata for the bullies in high school. Headed nowhere, and unsure of whom he was, Basavich decided that rather than continuing the daily abuse, to drop out of high school.
With nowhere to go and nothing to do, in order to conquer his depression and remain in denial about his weight, (which had risen to 350 lbs), he began small-scale street hustling that eventually led him to hanging out at the local New Jersey pool halls. There he discovered he had a natural talent for the game of pool. After honing his skills, he teamed up with a young slim good-looking disciplined college dropout and they hit the road together in an effort as much to try to find themselves, as to test their talents, and find their fortune; and if they were lucky, eventually their places in the universe.
The story is about how these two "modern day urban Buccaneers": pals who fed off of each other's strengths and weaknesses, took to the road and tried to corner the under world of amateur U.S. and Canadian pool culture. It is full of colorful events and characters, hustles and scams, hits and misses, ups and downs, trials and tribulations, and many boring nights in a lot of Motel 6s in Minnesota and South Dakota -- all gradually leading up to the dramatic crescendo of the book, climbing the mountain to the top of the pool food chain: the nationally televised professional title held in Miami, Florida.
Although along the way, Danny becomes disciplined -- losing 200 pounds and gaining self-confidence and control over his bi-polar tailspins -- his friend, Bristol, is not so lucky. He falls victim to a drug habit, but against great odds, Basavich continues on, alone, to Miami to win the title of "The World Champion of Professional Pool." He does so in a dazzling display of pool skills and finesse, beating the great Buddy Hall in the Miami finals.
It is an uplifting story, but the book is mostly for insiders, for those who know, or at least can appreciate, the fine points of pool and the art of hustling, otherwise the many events in pool halls across the many hick towns of the mid-West and South can seem quite repetitious and boring, and makes the book appear to be straining for sufficient meat to carry a complete story. For sure, there is a beginning and an end to this story, but even for one familiar with the pool milieu, the middle is often uneventful to the point of seeming to drag. Three stars
Rating:  -
If you want to read about a travelling pool hustler, this is an excellent read!
Rating:  -
It is not every day that a story takes you by the neck and drags you through the pages like a roller coaster ride. Kid Delicious is impossible to define or dislike. The reader roots for him and his quixotic quest to overcome depression, get a life and learn every nuance of the green baize. Any one of which is a tough task.
This world of inveterate gamblers is fascinating, quirky, dangerous and full of folk who would pick up a snake for a dollar bet rather than get a 'real' job. The author is a gifted writer, not simply a good sports writer. He obviously cares for his protagonist but does not judge or sugar coat any of his idiosyncracies, and they are legion. The story opens a curtain on a dying sub culture. The internet, Texas Hold 'em and the growth of casinos have all contribued to limiting the action a road warrior can find today. However, Kid Delicious wrung every last drop out of his foray into the world of cross country hustling.
Read this book, if you play pool or not. The book works on so many levels that it will be enjoyed by anyone with a soul.
Rating: -
"Jeez, that fat man, look at the way he moves. Like a dancer.
And those fingers, them chubby fingers. That stroke,
It's like he's playing the violin or something."
- Fast Eddie Felson (Paul Newman) marveling at
- Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason) in "The Hustler"
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The above quote is what begins the PROLOGUE of this gripping true story of Danny "Kid Delicious" Basavich. Danny is a 5 foot 9 nine inch 320 pound, charming, bipolar, depressed, suicidal, crowd-pleasing, warm-smiling, ice-breaking, pool-hustling, professional champion, Jewish mensch, from New Jersey, by way of Brooklyn! Danny as a kid would buy candy and treats in bulk, bring them to school and sell them at outrageous markups between classes. He also ran poker games during study hall and football pools on Fridays. He ingeniously figured out that packs of baseball cards that included valuable bonus cards were slightly thicker than the regular packs. Using a micrometer Danny could figure out which packs had the valuable cards in them without opening the pack and would then buy those packs and resell the bonus cards at a huge markup. In summary, before Danny started playing pool he already had the makings of a classic hustler. Due to his girth Danny was teased and bullied unmercifully in high school and dropped out when he was fifteen. Danny became overridden with depression. He would sleep all day and eat unbelievable amounts of food. Then he discovered pool, which probably saved his life and made this writer's dream of a story reality.
Danny starts practicing pool in every waking minute of his life and his burgeoning talent gives him a reason to live. It gives him a self-worth that he never had before when he looked in the mirror and saw an unattractive overweight man-child going nowhere, as he seriously considered suicide. From the moment he sees the potential in himself, the reader is then taken on a roller coaster ride from one pool hall to another. Some venues are pig sties, and others are glimmering palaces. When Danny wins a big hustle against a "slender, flashy, up-and-coming player called "Kid Vicious" a legend is born. As Danny unscrewed his stick and prepared to leave, a fan whistled and then cracked, "Kid Vicious" just got hustled by "Kid Delicious"! "Kid Delicious" would become Danny's moniker from there on out. Along with fighting his depression "Delicious" had to fight the "catch-22" of not becoming too famous, because no one would play him. A number of times ill-fated professional pool leagues would start with grandiose plans and go bust. There was the quandary that hustling paid more than a professional match, but "Delicious" also wanted the celebrity and acknowledgement of his talent. But if he got the professional victories that would put him on TV and in billiard magazines, then he could no longer enter backwater pool halls in North Dakota, Minnesota, Alabama, and wherever his car would take him, incognito, "under the radar" for a big hustle, and that's where the real money lies!
This book takes you through the back alleys, the cheap hotels, the dives, along with "Delicious's" weight gains and losses, mood swings and rubbing of elbow's with more nefarious character's with more nicknames than the mafia. Some of the "classic" nicknames include: "Scorpion", "Black Widow", "Gunslinger", "Rifleman", "Freezer", "Ice Man", "The Lion", "The Cobra", "Spanish Mike", "Scott The Shot", "Shannon The Cannon", "Earl The Pearl", "Weenie Beanie", "Ginky", "King James", "Portuguese", "Shaggy", "Chewy", "Oil Can Larry", "Larry The Lizard", "The Prince Of Pool", "Puerto Rican Pete", "Gypsy", "Chili", "Fifty", "The Crow", "Cornbread Red", "Bristol Bob", "Snake", "Double J", "The Hurricane", "Harry The Hat", "The Korean Dragon", "Big City Smitty", "The Professor" ... and many, many more! I recommend this book highly! Buy it and get to know the rest of the gang!
Rating: -
Anyone who knows and appreciates how well Jon Wertheim (senior writer at Sports Illustrated) writes must read this. It's so much more that just a story about an overweight kid with low self-esteem who seeks refuge in seedy billiard rooms to ply his talent as a pool player extraordinaire; it's also an engrossing "roadie" narrative, illuminating the disparate threads which personifiy the quintessential American psyche.
In my opinion, Jon Wertheim displays the same élan in his writing as Truman Capote has with his work, "In Cold Blood". There is a flowing verbal rhythm in the way he tells the tale of Kid Delicious and his travails around America's southeast states in search of his next hustle/fix. While his story is told with much humour (often black), empathy, light-heartedness, and poignancy (without saccharine) -- there is also a visceral efficacy, especially with its cautionary warning as to how a momentary lapse can, unwittingly, lead one into this insidious methamphetamine addiction with potentially devastating consequences.
True to form, Jon tells it like it is -- that is, non-judgemental, without
pretence, conceit or artifice to embellish his story about this extraordinary pool player conquering his demons.
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