All or Nothing

by Preston L. Allen and Mark Nelson

"By turns harrowing, illuminating, and endearing, Preston Allen's All or Nothing is more than a gut punch, it's a damn good book." --Maggie Estep, author of Flamethrower

Preston L. Allen's witty, charming, and very likable school bus driver--named P--is a desperate gambler. He has blown the hundred thousand dollars he won at the casino six months ago, but his wife and family still think he's loaded. P spins out of control on the addict's...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1933354410
• ISBN13: 9781933354415
• Release Date: November 2007
• Publisher: Akashic Books
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.2" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Breathtaking

What Fyodor Dostoevsky did for The Gambler over a hundred years ago, Preston Allen does for his bus driver "P" in All Or Nothing. A degenerate gambling addict on a losing streak, "P" will do anything for the big win, believing that one vast win will save him. He gets that win, and many more, and along the way you meet all different types of gamblers. Allen proves that this addiction crosses all barriers and does not discriminate on race, ethnicity, sex, age, or class line. Anyone can be taken prisoner and held hostage by this addiction, and intellect has nothing to do with it. "P" is a lovable, warm, and generous guy, and you are rooting for him all the way, but in the end, Allen proves that no matter what the stakes are, no matter how much you win....it is never enough. A fascinating, heartbreaking, beautifully written "must read" for anyone interested in the topic of gambling, or gambling addiction.

Great!

This book is in my top 3 for stories about compulsive gambling. The other two are "Nicotine Dreams" and "Stung". I really enjoy reading about people with gambling addictions and these are 3 books in which the addiction rings true. Thanks for the great story. Loved the writing style.

Looking forward to Preston's audio book

CAROL-ANNE MITCHELL ENC1102 11/03/2007 TUESDAY/THURSDAY CLASS Review of `ALL OR NOTHING' by Preston L. Allen I had the opportunity to attend a book reading on Preston's book `All or Nothing'. Preston has not only created an extraordinary novel, but he was able to bring life to his written work through this reading. Although the reading only lasted approximately ten to fifteen minutes, in my opinion it was enjoyable and interesting minutes. A movie about this novel could not deliver the justice the writer himself brought to the written material. This is a gift many writers do not possess. Preston's novel plays out the life of P who was a gambler on a losing street; however, he turned it around and in such irony lost it all (his family). P was an addict and just as any other addiction, denied having a problem. The novel is quite enjoyable, gambling is not glorified in it, however, gives a realistic picture on the life of a gambler and the problems that ensue as a result. The end is unexpected and one to look forward to. What I would like to recommend to the writer that he produces Audio CDs of his novels, thus allowing his readers to experience them on a new level.

Yes, read this one!

This book made me, a total non-gambler, want to run to Harrah's and buy Lotto tickets. Even after P, gets a grip on himself (temporarily, always temporarily), I still looked at numbers like a gambler. That only happens when the writing is good, the writer has a deep sense of character and knows how to poke, prod, and tickle a reader. I barely noticed the pages going by and P. is infectious--you feel his enthusiasm, his addiction, his tensions and fears--and it is painful and funny and fun all at the same time. The brief sections and jumps in time not only drive you, happily, through the pages but give the flavor of P.'s out-of-control life and psyche. I'm not an easy reader to impress or move but Allen's book is a great read! author of Sandrine's Letter to Tomorrow

Allen Ups the Ante on Addiction Fiction

Preston L. Allen's All or Nothing is as addictive as its subject matter, the gambling life of a mysterious man in a black cowboy hat called, simply, "P." A school bus driver by day and a desperado by night, P roams the South Florida casinos in search of the next big win. When it comes, however, it's not enough, and doesn't last. It never lasts; P chases the ping-ping dream all the way to Vegas and back, trying on one identity after another, one philosophy after another, one lover after another, all in the hopes of getting the monkey off his back. This is not really a novel about gambling at all; you might as well call P Ishmael, because he's a man on a quest for meaning the likes of which has never been attempted in this genre. One expects a novel about addiction to be only one of two things: either condemnation or salvation. All or Nothing is neither. This is gut-wrenching philosophy at its best, one man against no one but himself. Allen's remarkable style is experimental and refreshing. He doesn't bother to glamorize the bright lights and big money of the casino world. The novel is populated by real, moving people, mothers and grandmothers, women and lovers, old men and husbands and sons that haunt the smoke-filled rooms like ghosts of themselves. They tell the story just as much as P does, redefining insanity--literally--with every push of the "play" button. Allen leaves no card unturned in this story. P is high roller and broke, ace and joker, lucky and unlucky, good and bad, and the people who surround him as real as you and I. It's a book that you can't put down, but not because you can't wait to see what happens next, but because you can't believe it's really happening, and yet you know it does, every night, in every casino, dog track, cruise ship, everywhere around the world. This is not a novel about gambling, how to do it better, or how to stop. It's a novel about that tiny part in all of us, the dark place that wants to put every last chip on the table and see what happens next.