The Hustler

The Hustler is a 1959 debut novel by American writer Walter Tevis. It tells the story of a young pool hustler, Edward "Fast Eddie" Felson, who challenges the legendary Minnesota Fats. The novel was well-received by critics, and was adapted into a 1961 film of the same title, starring Paul Newman as Fast Eddie, Jackie Gleason as Minnesota Fats, and Piper Laurie as Sarah. A sequel, The Color of Money, was published in 1984. Synopsis Eddie "Fast Eddie" Felson is a young pool hustler from Oakland, California, who travels the country with his middle-aged partner Charlie Fenniger, pretending to be a worse pool player than he actually is to win bets. He goes with Charlie to Chicago, where he plays the legendary pool player George Hegerman, known as Minnesota Fats, at Brannigan's pool hall. After beating Fats in a number of games, at one time being ahead of him by $18,000, he gets drunk and proceeds to lose to Fats, collapsing exhausted after 40 hours of playing. Eddie leaves Charlie without saying goodbye and returns to hustling. Eddie meets a college student, Sarah, at a bus station. They commence an affair and begin to live together. Returning to Brannigan's he encounters Bert, a professional gambler, who tells Eddie that despite his talent he lost to Fats due to lack of character, as well as an ingrained eagerness to lose. Nevertheless he offers to back him in a game with a rich pool player in Kentucky named Findlay, taking 75 percent of any winnings while absorbing all losses and paying expenses. Eddie turns him down and resumes hustling. Disregarding Bert's advice, he hustles pool at a pool hall patronized by tough migrants from Appalachia. They break his thumbs. After recuperating at Sarah's apartment, he accepts Bert's offer. Leaving Sarah behind in Chicago, they travel to Kentucky and Eddie plays Findlay at his home in Lexington. It turns out that Findlay plays billiards, not pool, which puts Eddie at a disadvantage. During the game he realizes that Findlay is a billiard hustler. Though chagrined that he is being "hustled," Eddie has an epiphany. Watching Findlay falter, he realizes the validity of what Bert had been telling him about winning being everything, how people crave an excuse to lose, and how character is as important as skill. Despite continual pain in his thumbs, he wins against Findlay. He and Bert drive back to Chicago, where Eddie reunites with Sarah but does not move back in with her.