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The King of Video Poker
Arnold Palmer has just died and The King of Video Poker is about to lose everything he loves.
In Paolo Iacovelli’s debut novel, we follow a nameless narrator. He is a normative, upper-middle-class American who commutes to Las Vegas to play high-stakes video poker. He seems to have a son, a loving wife, a beautiful home in Mesquite, Nevada.
But aimless and depressed, he must face emptiness in both spirit and body. His relationships deteriorate and our narrator is left attempting the deplorable to fill the void. He latches onto an excessive road trip as he fixates on Arnold Palmer’s death, trying to chase a high that will never come. Falling deep into the throes of darkness, he finds himself planning one of the greatest atrocities the U.S. has ever seen.
In Paolo Iacovelli’s debut novel, we follow a nameless narrator. He is a normative, upper-middle-class American who commutes to Las Vegas to play high-stakes video poker. He seems to have a son, a loving wife, a beautiful home in Mesquite, Nevada.
But aimless and depressed, he must face emptiness in both spirit and body. His relationships deteriorate and our narrator is left attempting the deplorable to fill the void. He latches onto an excessive road trip as he fixates on Arnold Palmer’s death, trying to chase a high that will never come. Falling deep into the throes of darkness, he finds himself planning one of the greatest atrocities the U.S. has ever seen.
- GenresFiction
144 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 9, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
June 18, 2024
A novel inspired by Stephen Paddock is not an easy sell by any means, but Paolo Iacovelli pulls it off. Brilliantly so if I might add. You should think of this as Todd Phillips' 2019 Joker as if it were written by Don DeLillo. It's a vicious and oddly relatable (but not quite empathetic) sensory overload where the setting is as much of a character than the protagonist. It's also as obnoxious and unsympathetic.
It's a book that puts you in an interesting place morally. Not somewhere you're used to be or even comfortable. There are the books I want to read. More on Dead End Follies soon.
It's a book that puts you in an interesting place morally. Not somewhere you're used to be or even comfortable. There are the books I want to read. More on Dead End Follies soon.
August 26, 2024
unreasonably happy to be the first reviewer: thanks to CLASH & almightly edelweiss for an eARC.
on many levels this book was written for me; i love reading about a pathetic middle aged loser committing atrocities. nothing i love more in fact. naturally i could see where it was headed, but didn't pick up on the model it was following until around halfway through. i do think i enjoyed the beginning slightly more than the latter half, but i can't say why, since the tone felt the same throughout (in a positive way). loved in particular the long, run-on sentences and stream of consciousness element of the writing, the surreality. was a bit surprised to see how little, realistically, arnold palmer had to do with anything, but, you know. inspiration. loved it.
on many levels this book was written for me; i love reading about a pathetic middle aged loser committing atrocities. nothing i love more in fact. naturally i could see where it was headed, but didn't pick up on the model it was following until around halfway through. i do think i enjoyed the beginning slightly more than the latter half, but i can't say why, since the tone felt the same throughout (in a positive way). loved in particular the long, run-on sentences and stream of consciousness element of the writing, the surreality. was a bit surprised to see how little, realistically, arnold palmer had to do with anything, but, you know. inspiration. loved it.
June 15, 2024
Admittedly, I went into this book truly blind, when I reached the point of familiarity I was unsure if it was based on true events or loosely inspired; now that I've done my Googling I've found that it is both! There was a point ⅘ of the way through the book that my stomach sank when I realized what this story was depicting. I had concerns about the handling of the remaining plot and if this was just a blatant rip-off however, I can report all was treated with care and wrapped up appropriately. If you are also unaware of this book's origins I would lean more towards going in blind.
I enjoyed this book overall. The stream-of-consciousness writing style lent itself to the mental spiral and deterioration we see from the MC. I especially loved the dark humor and over-the-top ridiculousness of this sad lil man. The first ⅗ of the book was the strongest written as it snapped along in such a quick hard hitting pace with hot take after hot take. Again the ⅘ mark was somehow both clunky and drawn out but the last 5th rounded out the plot very nicely.
Thank you to Clash x Edelweiss for the ARC, my appreciation abounds.
I enjoyed this book overall. The stream-of-consciousness writing style lent itself to the mental spiral and deterioration we see from the MC. I especially loved the dark humor and over-the-top ridiculousness of this sad lil man. The first ⅗ of the book was the strongest written as it snapped along in such a quick hard hitting pace with hot take after hot take. Again the ⅘ mark was somehow both clunky and drawn out but the last 5th rounded out the plot very nicely.
Thank you to Clash x Edelweiss for the ARC, my appreciation abounds.
March 25, 2025
I bought this on a whim based on recommendations from someone online who said to read it without looking up anything about it. That's definitely the best way to experience this. The slow burn realization of what's happening just can't be beat! I read this in one sitting. Highly recommend!
August 13, 2024
From the first page, the story grips you by creating an immersive world where you watch a man's descent into despair unravel before your eyes. The book's unique blend of darkness and wit makes it a standout commentary on the human condition and the extremes people go to when searching for meaning. One of the many aspects I loved were the long, detailed descriptions of places, people, or even things that have an American Psycho air to them, painting such an incredibly high def picture of the world the story is being told in. As others have said, the less you know about the book when going in the better, but if you like interesting, thought provoking, dark, witty books - this one is definitely worth picking up!
May 2, 2025
Maybe if he was the ace of video poker he’d have done better
Book is interesting, cool flow of consciousness style. Main character has a pretty aggressive feel the whole time. Its interesting, but the payoff isn’t really there and while I get what they’re going for at the end, I didn’t personally enjoy how it ended.
Book is interesting, cool flow of consciousness style. Main character has a pretty aggressive feel the whole time. Its interesting, but the payoff isn’t really there and while I get what they’re going for at the end, I didn’t personally enjoy how it ended.
October 29, 2024
A tragic, harrowing spiral that leaves you feeling hollowed out. Going into this book I knew what it was going to lead up to, but that didn’t detract from the viscous and desperate momentum of Iacovelli’s writing, a true student of Ellis who’s well-schooled in the bizarre intimacy of cold reptilian distance. I feel like I read this book at the perfect time in my life, where I too felt lost and abandoned and it gave me an odd sense of comfort. One of the best books of 2024. Paolo Iacovelli is an author that should be on everyone’s radar.
April 17, 2025
Delightful, dark, and absurd. I don’t want to spoil but definitely worth picking up. It’s pretty quick and goes off the rails smoothly. Found this on a shelf at a bookstore and found out it was written by the cafe manager there.. was surprised to the upside!
June 24, 2025
american psycho meets david foster wallace
August 28, 2026
The Michael Jordan of drunk driving played his final game tonight
Emburdened by his loneliness, he wanted to feel alive
His laziness built the pyramids and his solitude was a knife
The Michael Jordan of drunk driving played his final game tonight
- AJJ
The author Walker Percy once wrote a story about a crazed gunman in New Orleans who went to the roof of a tall building and unleashed sniper fire on pedestrians below. Later, Percy was asked about how he knew this was going to happen when this very event occurred in 1973 (decades before mass shootings became an American institution) when Mark Essex killed nine people. Percy said that there was nothing he knew for certain-- only that he had located something in the culture that would likely make this sort of thing inevitable. A crazed society with access to this caliber of weaponry off the street would be asking for it, in a sense.
Essex's name has mostly faded from history. Oddly, the same has happened to Steven Paddock, whom you would be forgiven for not being able to recall if asked about unprompted. The perpetrator of the deadliest mass shooting in American history turned one of his several guns on himself to escape capture, leaving us without a manifesto or clearly defined motive. Too late to stop him from using 23 rifles assembled in his hotel room to unload 1000 rounds of ammunition into a country music festival from a mathematically optimized angle, killing 60 people and injuring upwards of 800 people, about half of whom suffered direct bullet or shrapnel wounds.
Too meticulously planned to be a truly random act of senseless violence. Yet all we have are questions.
Paradoxically, Paddock is not so much an enigmatic figure despite the immense shock and unpredictability of his actions. We know a bit about him: He was a postal worker and auditor that worked with companies like Lockheed Martin. He earned a few million dollars in the real estate market and owned apartment buildings in several states. He was a prolific video poker player, but not well known enough to be on Casino radars or in any legitimate gambling circuits. His father was a notorious bank robber who spent nearly a decade on the FBI's most wanted list.
All of this more or less taken from what little journalism could be reliably aggregated about the tragedy and assembled on Paddock's Wikipedia page.
Iacovelli's debut novel fills in some of the blanks psychologically to determine not only what drove Paddock to insanity, but if America bares some of the blame.
The novel is told in the first person, where Paddock's inner monologue wavers inconsistently between bouts of manchild immaturity, prideful longing for dignity and an American mythos tasting of Arnold Palmer, sexual urges, and paternal love for his son. This oscillation between seeming different registers of male temperament, self-control, and even intelligence is, I'm realizing, somewhat common in contemporary literature-- perhaps a way to capture what masculinity is doing to men as we march steadily past the one-quarter mark of this century. I'm reminded of Scott McClanahan's The Sarah Book, which I found more annoying than insightful. I won't pass judgement on whether this is a valid trend in characterization, and I certainly won't attempt to validate its truthfulness w/r/t Paddock. But the language available to and employed by the narrator is often inconsistent, distracting, and even when the author operates outsides the boundaries he himself drew, I was hoping for either more rawness or for more insight into Paddock's supercharged America we call Las Vegas and we ultimately get neither. A higher register of language would have made reading this book something like pleasurable.
Nobody can know for sure what Paddock was feeling in the lead-up to that awful day. Yet we can say with certainty that it wasn't because he was worried about being a good dad. For as little (or a lot, depending on your perspective) as we know about Paddock, giving him a son when he did not have one in real life is one of the most confounding choices Iacovelli makes. You won't find me on the side of the fence that says a story like this, an inner monologue such as this should never be entertained or written about-- but it would seem to me pointless to take creative license on something that significant, as it colors in quite a bit of how we're supposed to understand Paddock's life. The fact that Paddock (in this novel) is extremely preoccupied with legacy, heroism, and how he is perceived would be explosive to pair with a childless existence into his 60s, which was true of the subject in real life. I must admit this is one of the strangest writing decisions I've ever seen, and I cannot wrap my mind around it.
Whatever version of Paddock the author has drawn, he unleashes him on a very real Vegas Strip full of the decadence, misery, gambles, exploitation, neon, and vice that flood the streets every noon and night. Paddock's gambling prowess allows him to reap all the fruits from the society that would allow a Las Vegas to take root. He gazes, like a drunk discovering himself in the mirror behind the bartender, and sees the sin from another angle. The radio blaring its itemized list of blood and guts as he drives from the strip to his suburban home in Mesquite can be easily shut off. It's only between hands of his Jacks Or Better machine does clarity arrive.
I have a soft spot for any book that's clearly a bead on the same string as White Noise, as societal and cultural malaise felt while ignoring black mold under the floorboards of life is one of my very favorite subjects. This is a more minor entry into that canon-- but the premise was irresistible (I can't imagine reading this novel without knowing the narrator's true identity going in. I feel I would have given up on it if I didn't know where it was headed and its "connection" to real events). Iacovelli is right in noticing much of what drives our society of abundance to insanity, but points it out without a master's hand that books of this stripe must have. Not that the book hinges on it, but Paddock's eventual downward turn is unconvincing, and the entire final section of the book passes without tension and is in fact somewhat tedious to read.
So why did he do it? The character, as Iacovelli portrays him, seems interested in going down in history, and it doesn't really matter what for (and video poker no longer inspires any significance). Perhaps good, then, that Paddock's name hasn't become synonymous with our climate of violence and fear. Moral cleanliness might have been a contributing factor.
Ask anybody in the crowd outside Paradise, Nevada on that night in 2017 whether Paddock's motive is anywhere near as important as the fact that he was able to do it in the first place. While not irrelevant, no explanation changes the fact that a man was able to do this-- that alarm bells were not rung from the highest towers in Vegas, that he was able to make jocular conversation with the bellhop on the service elevator up to his room with suitcases full of ammunition-- what it says about society that he was aided by bumpstocks, illegal at the time, and that the Trump administration has since decriminalized. We manufacture these devices of death and offer them for anyone with a good line of credit.
Iacolelli, like Walker Percy, has located something within the culture that makes this sort of thing predictable.
In the final few pages, Paddock walks around at street level among the festivalgoers and laughs at their naivety. And why shouldn't he? Anyone with access to a firearm may laugh like an omnipotent god as dozens of lives are ended at his whim for no good reason. Anyone who enters a public space now runs the risk of someone's bad day, bad life, bad brain chemistry, or any number of motives being used as an excuse for an individual to play god.
Las Vegas is a city built on luck. Public safety ought to be made of sturdier stuff.
Emburdened by his loneliness, he wanted to feel alive
His laziness built the pyramids and his solitude was a knife
The Michael Jordan of drunk driving played his final game tonight
- AJJ
The author Walker Percy once wrote a story about a crazed gunman in New Orleans who went to the roof of a tall building and unleashed sniper fire on pedestrians below. Later, Percy was asked about how he knew this was going to happen when this very event occurred in 1973 (decades before mass shootings became an American institution) when Mark Essex killed nine people. Percy said that there was nothing he knew for certain-- only that he had located something in the culture that would likely make this sort of thing inevitable. A crazed society with access to this caliber of weaponry off the street would be asking for it, in a sense.
Essex's name has mostly faded from history. Oddly, the same has happened to Steven Paddock, whom you would be forgiven for not being able to recall if asked about unprompted. The perpetrator of the deadliest mass shooting in American history turned one of his several guns on himself to escape capture, leaving us without a manifesto or clearly defined motive. Too late to stop him from using 23 rifles assembled in his hotel room to unload 1000 rounds of ammunition into a country music festival from a mathematically optimized angle, killing 60 people and injuring upwards of 800 people, about half of whom suffered direct bullet or shrapnel wounds.
Too meticulously planned to be a truly random act of senseless violence. Yet all we have are questions.
Paradoxically, Paddock is not so much an enigmatic figure despite the immense shock and unpredictability of his actions. We know a bit about him: He was a postal worker and auditor that worked with companies like Lockheed Martin. He earned a few million dollars in the real estate market and owned apartment buildings in several states. He was a prolific video poker player, but not well known enough to be on Casino radars or in any legitimate gambling circuits. His father was a notorious bank robber who spent nearly a decade on the FBI's most wanted list.
All of this more or less taken from what little journalism could be reliably aggregated about the tragedy and assembled on Paddock's Wikipedia page.
Iacovelli's debut novel fills in some of the blanks psychologically to determine not only what drove Paddock to insanity, but if America bares some of the blame.
The novel is told in the first person, where Paddock's inner monologue wavers inconsistently between bouts of manchild immaturity, prideful longing for dignity and an American mythos tasting of Arnold Palmer, sexual urges, and paternal love for his son. This oscillation between seeming different registers of male temperament, self-control, and even intelligence is, I'm realizing, somewhat common in contemporary literature-- perhaps a way to capture what masculinity is doing to men as we march steadily past the one-quarter mark of this century. I'm reminded of Scott McClanahan's The Sarah Book, which I found more annoying than insightful. I won't pass judgement on whether this is a valid trend in characterization, and I certainly won't attempt to validate its truthfulness w/r/t Paddock. But the language available to and employed by the narrator is often inconsistent, distracting, and even when the author operates outsides the boundaries he himself drew, I was hoping for either more rawness or for more insight into Paddock's supercharged America we call Las Vegas and we ultimately get neither. A higher register of language would have made reading this book something like pleasurable.
Nobody can know for sure what Paddock was feeling in the lead-up to that awful day. Yet we can say with certainty that it wasn't because he was worried about being a good dad. For as little (or a lot, depending on your perspective) as we know about Paddock, giving him a son when he did not have one in real life is one of the most confounding choices Iacovelli makes. You won't find me on the side of the fence that says a story like this, an inner monologue such as this should never be entertained or written about-- but it would seem to me pointless to take creative license on something that significant, as it colors in quite a bit of how we're supposed to understand Paddock's life. The fact that Paddock (in this novel) is extremely preoccupied with legacy, heroism, and how he is perceived would be explosive to pair with a childless existence into his 60s, which was true of the subject in real life. I must admit this is one of the strangest writing decisions I've ever seen, and I cannot wrap my mind around it.
Whatever version of Paddock the author has drawn, he unleashes him on a very real Vegas Strip full of the decadence, misery, gambles, exploitation, neon, and vice that flood the streets every noon and night. Paddock's gambling prowess allows him to reap all the fruits from the society that would allow a Las Vegas to take root. He gazes, like a drunk discovering himself in the mirror behind the bartender, and sees the sin from another angle. The radio blaring its itemized list of blood and guts as he drives from the strip to his suburban home in Mesquite can be easily shut off. It's only between hands of his Jacks Or Better machine does clarity arrive.
I have a soft spot for any book that's clearly a bead on the same string as White Noise, as societal and cultural malaise felt while ignoring black mold under the floorboards of life is one of my very favorite subjects. This is a more minor entry into that canon-- but the premise was irresistible (I can't imagine reading this novel without knowing the narrator's true identity going in. I feel I would have given up on it if I didn't know where it was headed and its "connection" to real events). Iacovelli is right in noticing much of what drives our society of abundance to insanity, but points it out without a master's hand that books of this stripe must have. Not that the book hinges on it, but Paddock's eventual downward turn is unconvincing, and the entire final section of the book passes without tension and is in fact somewhat tedious to read.
So why did he do it? The character, as Iacovelli portrays him, seems interested in going down in history, and it doesn't really matter what for (and video poker no longer inspires any significance). Perhaps good, then, that Paddock's name hasn't become synonymous with our climate of violence and fear. Moral cleanliness might have been a contributing factor.
Ask anybody in the crowd outside Paradise, Nevada on that night in 2017 whether Paddock's motive is anywhere near as important as the fact that he was able to do it in the first place. While not irrelevant, no explanation changes the fact that a man was able to do this-- that alarm bells were not rung from the highest towers in Vegas, that he was able to make jocular conversation with the bellhop on the service elevator up to his room with suitcases full of ammunition-- what it says about society that he was aided by bumpstocks, illegal at the time, and that the Trump administration has since decriminalized. We manufacture these devices of death and offer them for anyone with a good line of credit.
Iacolelli, like Walker Percy, has located something within the culture that makes this sort of thing predictable.
In the final few pages, Paddock walks around at street level among the festivalgoers and laughs at their naivety. And why shouldn't he? Anyone with access to a firearm may laugh like an omnipotent god as dozens of lives are ended at his whim for no good reason. Anyone who enters a public space now runs the risk of someone's bad day, bad life, bad brain chemistry, or any number of motives being used as an excuse for an individual to play god.
Las Vegas is a city built on luck. Public safety ought to be made of sturdier stuff.
January 8, 2025
The kind of mind that Paolo Iacovelli captures in his debut novel feels about as authentically (white) American as you can get. It’s a mindset I unfortunately find becoming more common especially after Trump’s first presidency. A mind that, unable to find purpose or the kind of happiness they felt in their youth that they nostalgically pine for, turns to nihilistic violence either externally or internally.
Despite being a fictionalized version of the days leading up to Stephen Paddock’s Las Vegas massacre, the novel is very funny at times. The nameless protagonist’s obsession with Arnold Palmer’s death and his frustration that no one else seems to care about this sports legend’s passing is just one example of his amusing eccentricities. As he bumbles about through the majority of the story, the reader gets hints at how quickly he’s spiraling. During these absurd scenes of an obnoxious and pitiful man unable to find meaningful connections with his family, a sex worker, and a casino manager…there is a sinister cloud of violence hanging over him. Any potential lifeline thrown his way is quickly dismissed with various nonsensical justifications. The narrator seems to unconsciously self-sabotage every step of the way as he descends further into the abyss. Only by the end does he lock in and fully commit to something. Unfortunately, that commitment isn’t towards anything good.
The tonal balance between powerful anxiety and amusement in this is an impressive achievement. One moment I’d chuckle at a silly interaction the main character had with his son who loathed him, the next I’d be panicking at an impulsive violent act he contemplated. Even though I had a feeling where the story would end up, I was still riveted throughout the entire journey. In a way, The King of Video Poker reminded me at times of Don DeLillo’s Libra, one of my favorite books. That was also a fictionalized account focusing on the days preceding an event that would psychically traumatize many Americans for years to come. I mostly mention it because it’s interesting to compare the mysterious aspects of both Lee Harvey Oswald and Paddock’s lives. This is definitely doing its own thing compared to DeLillo’s novel, but it’s an interesting connection to make at least in my mind.
An incredible debut from Iacovelli that definitely shows that he’s a literary voice to look out for in the future!
Despite being a fictionalized version of the days leading up to Stephen Paddock’s Las Vegas massacre, the novel is very funny at times. The nameless protagonist’s obsession with Arnold Palmer’s death and his frustration that no one else seems to care about this sports legend’s passing is just one example of his amusing eccentricities. As he bumbles about through the majority of the story, the reader gets hints at how quickly he’s spiraling. During these absurd scenes of an obnoxious and pitiful man unable to find meaningful connections with his family, a sex worker, and a casino manager…there is a sinister cloud of violence hanging over him. Any potential lifeline thrown his way is quickly dismissed with various nonsensical justifications. The narrator seems to unconsciously self-sabotage every step of the way as he descends further into the abyss. Only by the end does he lock in and fully commit to something. Unfortunately, that commitment isn’t towards anything good.
The tonal balance between powerful anxiety and amusement in this is an impressive achievement. One moment I’d chuckle at a silly interaction the main character had with his son who loathed him, the next I’d be panicking at an impulsive violent act he contemplated. Even though I had a feeling where the story would end up, I was still riveted throughout the entire journey. In a way, The King of Video Poker reminded me at times of Don DeLillo’s Libra, one of my favorite books. That was also a fictionalized account focusing on the days preceding an event that would psychically traumatize many Americans for years to come. I mostly mention it because it’s interesting to compare the mysterious aspects of both Lee Harvey Oswald and Paddock’s lives. This is definitely doing its own thing compared to DeLillo’s novel, but it’s an interesting connection to make at least in my mind.
An incredible debut from Iacovelli that definitely shows that he’s a literary voice to look out for in the future!
August 19, 2024
This book is about so much more than one might expect! Yes, the ending somehow feels shocking but also completely inevitable, but the world building and character development is impressive to say the least for this debut novelist
Read
April 15, 2025Oh.
February 1, 2025
Evil is hollow and the more evil is explored, the more clear that becomes. It is tough to grapple with such dark tragedies, but the book is manageable to read in the same way the main character manages their own thoughts.
I was told it’s best to go in blind and did so. The title got me to the first line and the first line to the rest. The hollowness of evil is shown in the hilarious set up that this is all a reaction to Arnold Palmer’s death.
The book does a great job at making you feel like a piece of shit. Good book to read if you’re feeling like a piece of shit, because you’re not as bad of a piece of shit as this guy.
The book lets you know pretty early that something bad is going to happen. A glorious brief moment where the main character nonchalantly thinks about how he got such a great deal on the house because the family before was murdered. The book never lingers on any of these dark moments, the same way the main character doesn’t really think about them; Not deeply anyway.
These dark moments sprinkle more and more, and get darker and darker. I wasn’t expecting the shoe to drop at 3/4 through the book. I had seriously wondered why people said to go in blind. I had let my guard down and threw the book when the reveal hit.
Meritocracy is a lie and certain white American men never have to deal with this reality. The main character never has to deal with reality. He has no economic hardships, yet we see him spend money constantly. He is able to buy his greatness, his “king” status, by buying enough spins at video poker until he hit a royal flush, once. He is hurt no one recognizes his greatness, but never excepts perhaps he’s not great. He often has the most obvious realizations pushed into his face for him to comically double down in the grossest way possible.
Meritocracy has a hidden promise. The great people will rise, and you are great! How else would you describe suffering, except for a lack of greatness?
Americans love power, and despite what any Arnold Palmer vision quest might say, we need violence to be great. Violence is our psychological justification for superiority. The main character often fantasies about exercising his violence to people normally interacting with him.
The main characters father robbed banks. The ideal picture of a cowboy. Able to heroically take money and pay no consequences. No mind to who the cowboys ever took from, money or land. It’s implied his father did something to him, but the truest dark secrets remain unknown and hollow. American was founded on violence and so this violence is inevitable.
I was told it’s best to go in blind and did so. The title got me to the first line and the first line to the rest. The hollowness of evil is shown in the hilarious set up that this is all a reaction to Arnold Palmer’s death.
The book does a great job at making you feel like a piece of shit. Good book to read if you’re feeling like a piece of shit, because you’re not as bad of a piece of shit as this guy.
The book lets you know pretty early that something bad is going to happen. A glorious brief moment where the main character nonchalantly thinks about how he got such a great deal on the house because the family before was murdered. The book never lingers on any of these dark moments, the same way the main character doesn’t really think about them; Not deeply anyway.
These dark moments sprinkle more and more, and get darker and darker. I wasn’t expecting the shoe to drop at 3/4 through the book. I had seriously wondered why people said to go in blind. I had let my guard down and threw the book when the reveal hit.
Meritocracy is a lie and certain white American men never have to deal with this reality. The main character never has to deal with reality. He has no economic hardships, yet we see him spend money constantly. He is able to buy his greatness, his “king” status, by buying enough spins at video poker until he hit a royal flush, once. He is hurt no one recognizes his greatness, but never excepts perhaps he’s not great. He often has the most obvious realizations pushed into his face for him to comically double down in the grossest way possible.
Meritocracy has a hidden promise. The great people will rise, and you are great! How else would you describe suffering, except for a lack of greatness?
Americans love power, and despite what any Arnold Palmer vision quest might say, we need violence to be great. Violence is our psychological justification for superiority. The main character often fantasies about exercising his violence to people normally interacting with him.
The main characters father robbed banks. The ideal picture of a cowboy. Able to heroically take money and pay no consequences. No mind to who the cowboys ever took from, money or land. It’s implied his father did something to him, but the truest dark secrets remain unknown and hollow. American was founded on violence and so this violence is inevitable.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 24, 2024
The book version of watching Requeum for a Dream. Mesmerizing but please don't make it do it again.
That's not quite right, but I think I'm still in a funk this morning for having stayed up late to finish this. It starts off light enough, we're in Vegas inside the head of a loser/high-roller and the lights are blinking and he's getting comped and then he just keeps getting worse with his family and he says a few unredeemable things and just when you think you've had enough, you see it's only 160ish pages and the momentum picks up because the prose really starts to gallop and so you just finish it and you both want it to end but also don't.
Another thought: what a bold move from a young author on his first novel. To get inside the head of someone like this, I can't decide if it's brave or irresponsible. I have to say the marketing pictures he posted on his Instagram with the poker hands and Vegas theme feel kind of gross. I'm about to read the new Emmitt Till book, The Barn, and I don't think anyone would appreciate seeing the author in a cotton-picking party. I don't know, I'm probably wrong about that, but jeez, 60 people died and over 800 were injured. Let's make art, let's explore the headspace, but let's not forget this is very closely based on Stephen Paddock and a culture of mass killing.
That's not quite right, but I think I'm still in a funk this morning for having stayed up late to finish this. It starts off light enough, we're in Vegas inside the head of a loser/high-roller and the lights are blinking and he's getting comped and then he just keeps getting worse with his family and he says a few unredeemable things and just when you think you've had enough, you see it's only 160ish pages and the momentum picks up because the prose really starts to gallop and so you just finish it and you both want it to end but also don't.
Another thought: what a bold move from a young author on his first novel. To get inside the head of someone like this, I can't decide if it's brave or irresponsible. I have to say the marketing pictures he posted on his Instagram with the poker hands and Vegas theme feel kind of gross. I'm about to read the new Emmitt Till book, The Barn, and I don't think anyone would appreciate seeing the author in a cotton-picking party. I don't know, I'm probably wrong about that, but jeez, 60 people died and over 800 were injured. Let's make art, let's explore the headspace, but let's not forget this is very closely based on Stephen Paddock and a culture of mass killing.
January 24, 2025
A lot of reviews tell you to go blind into your reading, with many warning you to not even read the back cover. Let me just say that the subject of this book is probably something you'll want to be familiar with before deciding if you want to spend a few hours in its world. I both love and hate this work. It is masterfully done. But I question why it needs to be written at all. Is it really saying something we don't already know?
I had much the same reaction to the 2019 film "Joker," both admiring its craft and wondering if it was even responsible for Hollywood to have made it.
Or perhaps, in both these cases, I'm just sad we live in a world where stories like this are even told, much less relatable.
Four stars for Paolo Iacovelli's handling of the themes and the character (sympathetic, without being the least bit aggrandizing).
The "twist" of the novel isn't anything readers with a knowledge of current events won't immediately identify (hence why I'm confused so many suggest reading this without any prior knowledge... which is what I did, and I regret it)
One star for such a thoroughly unpleasant read that completely ruined my afternoon.
Again, do yourself a favor and read what this is about BEFORE you decide to pick it up. You'll be happier either way.
I had much the same reaction to the 2019 film "Joker," both admiring its craft and wondering if it was even responsible for Hollywood to have made it.
Or perhaps, in both these cases, I'm just sad we live in a world where stories like this are even told, much less relatable.
Four stars for Paolo Iacovelli's handling of the themes and the character (sympathetic, without being the least bit aggrandizing).
The "twist" of the novel isn't anything readers with a knowledge of current events won't immediately identify (hence why I'm confused so many suggest reading this without any prior knowledge... which is what I did, and I regret it)
One star for such a thoroughly unpleasant read that completely ruined my afternoon.
Again, do yourself a favor and read what this is about BEFORE you decide to pick it up. You'll be happier either way.
July 30, 2026
After I got over the initial hate I had towards the main character, I could not put it down. It was somehow so entertaining to read about the life of a train wreck of a man full of so much unresolved trauma he becomes like a rapidly growing black mold on the lives of all those around him.
"But I have not come to do the devil's work; there is just me. A middle-aged white man playing out the cards he was dealt, raised in the desert by a rotten father and apples don't fall too far from trees".
This man suffers so much from his ego, he believes he is destined for greatness, and the only way to achieve that is to stomp on others, the same way his father stomped on him.
I will say I am glad there was no character growth, there were glimpses where you thought "hey maybe he will turn things around, be a good father and husband", but no, his spiraling addiction to gambling and inflated ego did not allow for it.
It's hard to sit in the mind of this man and it's scary to imagine actual people live like this.
"But I have not come to do the devil's work; there is just me. A middle-aged white man playing out the cards he was dealt, raised in the desert by a rotten father and apples don't fall too far from trees".
This man suffers so much from his ego, he believes he is destined for greatness, and the only way to achieve that is to stomp on others, the same way his father stomped on him.
I will say I am glad there was no character growth, there were glimpses where you thought "hey maybe he will turn things around, be a good father and husband", but no, his spiraling addiction to gambling and inflated ego did not allow for it.
It's hard to sit in the mind of this man and it's scary to imagine actual people live like this.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 7, 2025
As someone who doesn’t read often, I thought this shorter story would be a great intro into starting again. I think I was correct in that assumption. While the writing style felt off-putting for me at times, I felt as though it did a great job of putting me into the headspace of the main character, feeling as though they were partially my thoughts as well, making portions of the story even more shocking as they occurred.
I thought the degradation of the character’s mindset was done really well. Slowly introducing topics to make you realize this guy is kind of an ass**** before hitting you with some deplorable thoughts and actions.
I was mainly drawn in by many claiming the twist at the end was what made the story, and while I agree it’s done masterfully, it doesn’t need to be the only reason to pick this book up.
I thought the degradation of the character’s mindset was done really well. Slowly introducing topics to make you realize this guy is kind of an ass**** before hitting you with some deplorable thoughts and actions.
I was mainly drawn in by many claiming the twist at the end was what made the story, and while I agree it’s done masterfully, it doesn’t need to be the only reason to pick this book up.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 9, 2025
An absolutely gripping character study of a man whose life is sent into a desperate spiral of isolation kicked off by a relatively minor moment. The whole time you're just watching him grasp at ghosts, reaching at every person in his life for any sort of connection only to find each of those relationships crumble to dust when pressured, and he just keeps falling lower and lower, panicked and afraid and angry that he's all alone.
I guessed the twist from page 1, unfortunately, but even with that in mind it's still a damn good read with a stomach-churning third act. The stream-of-consciousness style prose really makes you feel like you're deep in the guy's head, even when you really really don't want to be.
I guessed the twist from page 1, unfortunately, but even with that in mind it's still a damn good read with a stomach-churning third act. The stream-of-consciousness style prose really makes you feel like you're deep in the guy's head, even when you really really don't want to be.
July 10, 2024
This isn't just a fiction book. Rather, this is an incredibly powerful, real, bold, and raw reflection of American culture and society. A reflection that shows the reader just how disillusioned we are to relationships, morality, violence, and death. A reflection that mirrors what each of us has within ourselves on some level. Iacovelli has highlighted the darkest parts of the human mind that we repeately turn a blind eye to. Brilliantly written in simplistic detail that allows the reader to connect with the narrator rather than loathe him. And that sparks the question within the reader, "What part of narrator do I see in myself and what does that say about me?"
August 2, 2024
Paolo Iacovelli’s debut novel is a gem. He tackles the challenge of diving into the psychological origins of a disturbed mind with finesse and acuity. His style of writing and development of each scene made it hard for me to leave the book on my table for long without trying to sneak another few moments to find out what happens next. His characters are believable and his subject incredibly well-researched. The King of Video Poker stands out as a winner in the category of fast-paced thrillers that in many ways addresses the difficult and controversial topic of just what it is that drives a person over the edge.
October 19, 2025
I got a recommendation for this novel from bookstagram.
The King of Video Poker dives into the void of the modern American experience. We follow a nameless, middle-aged, upper-middle-class man whose addiction to high-stakes video poker in Las Vegas barely masks a profound, corrosive despair.
His life starts to unravel after the death of Arnold Palmer, an event that triggers a dark, reckless spiral. Iacovelli’s writing is caustic and precise, detailing the narrator's rants and the soulless routines of the Strip.
This short, intense novel is a disturbing character study of alienation and anhedonia, building toward a shocking and horrific conclusion.
The King of Video Poker dives into the void of the modern American experience. We follow a nameless, middle-aged, upper-middle-class man whose addiction to high-stakes video poker in Las Vegas barely masks a profound, corrosive despair.
His life starts to unravel after the death of Arnold Palmer, an event that triggers a dark, reckless spiral. Iacovelli’s writing is caustic and precise, detailing the narrator's rants and the soulless routines of the Strip.
This short, intense novel is a disturbing character study of alienation and anhedonia, building toward a shocking and horrific conclusion.
February 27, 2025
I'll have to come back to this in a few days and update with some thoughts because it's pretty heavy. Despite being such a short book it took me around a month to read because I read 2/3 in one sitting, then once I realized where it was going I put it down for a while. I just came back to finish it in another sitting. I liked it a lot but it's hard to recommend without a big content warning that would spoil the entire book.
July 23, 2024
Captivating novel that I read in one sitting. While the book is short, you become immersed in the mental demise of the narrator, who is objectively a Bad Guy but who somehow you feel sympathy for ( reminded me of my feelings towards Tony soprano). I read it right after I finished East of Eden and saw similar themes in regards to good vs evil and what falls in between. Highly recommend!!!!
July 25, 2024
Iacovelli’s debut novel, “The King of Video Poker” is a poignant account of the mind of a man who committed one of America’s most devastating crimes. Iacovelli’s writing is raw and honest, drawing readers into a world that’s gut wrenching and horrifying. It’s one of the most shocking and effective endings I’ve read. While the storyline is brilliant, so is the writing.
July 31, 2024
Wow!! I was recommended this book and it totally blew me away. From the opening sentence until the perfect ending. It was one of those rare books that you had to keep turning the page and not put down. Well written and constructed, Kudos to Mr. Iacovelli on his debut novel. You need to read this book. Looking forward to his next work. I love the way he writes!!
July 31, 2025
I was hooked pretty quickly as I enjoy reading about how pitiful the human condition can be but this was quite the buildup of a story just to be let down. The author is clearly talented but the ending felt much less seasoned and crafted.
Also not a fan of the unnecessary racism toward Mexicans. It didn’t contribute much to the story and felt like a frivolous and cheap way to drive the theme home.
Also not a fan of the unnecessary racism toward Mexicans. It didn’t contribute much to the story and felt like a frivolous and cheap way to drive the theme home.
July 24, 2024
This book evokes empathy from readers, shedding light on a dark and disturbed anti-hero while exposing the reality of an overly glorified 'America' where no one truly feels safe. I was consumed throughout!"
September 13, 2024
totally devastating and completely enthralling. unbelievable debut, totally irreverent in the way it weaves together the lie of the american dream, mental illness, commercialism, darkness & desperation. this one will stay with me for a while
October 23, 2024
The book is so well written and is such an engrossing page turner. I could not put it down.
The characters really came alive, as did the depressing casino world.
I got the real sense of the emptiness of the protagonist and why he did this heinous atrocity.
I highly recommend this book!
The characters really came alive, as did the depressing casino world.
I got the real sense of the emptiness of the protagonist and why he did this heinous atrocity.
I highly recommend this book!
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