Dice: Deception, Fate and Rotten Luck Book

Jay, one of the world's most respected close up magicians, has produced a labor of love for anyone who want to know more about the history of dice, their origins, how they're made, how they decay and how people have cheated with them since the ancient days. Jay, and a super photographer, Rosamond Purcell concentrate on celluloid dice (the first commercially manufactured plastic), which remain stable for decades, which eventually begin to crack, crystallize and implode. He traces gambling with dice from its earliest days (when dice were called "astragali" and made from the heel bones of hoofed, four-legged animals), to their use in modern times. He reminds us the way these dice were shaved, misspotted and "loaded" by hustlers who truly found an edge. Clearly this is not a book which describes how to win at craps or any dice game -- it is for the historian, the true aficionado of information, often hard to obtain, about how dice and craps evolved throughout history to the game we know it today. It's a perfect mini-coffee-table-type gift item for unique individuals who enjoy unique books. 63 pages, hardbound, 2002.Read More