Eudaemonic Pie

Sometimes the plot of a book outweighs writing that is poor (The Da Vinci Code) or mediocre (Harry Potter Boxset Books 1-7). This book definitely falls into that category - it's a very intriguing story. (The writing is not terrible; just not great.) I would especially recommend this book to anyone who is interested in physics, mathematics or computers.

- Love this story! There is some validity in the reviews that critique the pace/style of the writing. However, I read it back in the early 90s, and the fact that it is still a vivid recollection counts for something. The advantage of time passage in analysis is better context and objectivity. Of course the disadvantage is that the details are not fresh. Probably I have forgotten minor irritations with style, while the strongly positive impression lingers. I do not give 5 stars lightly; though in this case the rating is more for the intrinsic wonder of the tale more than the technical adeptness in the telling. - The story is ultimately not about the goal, not about winning or losing or beating the house. Its really about the journeying. A unique shared human experience of some ordinary yet extraordinary people in ordinary yet extraordinary times. The ordinary draws the reader in with a continual reminder that it's a true story, magnifying the extraordinary nature of events. Somehow I found it intensely compelling to follow the characters and realize that in the same month I was, say, starting a newspaper route or trying to make the varsity soccer team, these offbeat-yet-practical, idealistic-yet-enterprising, brilliant-yet-sidetracked, anachronistic hippie-tinged grad students were mathematically modeling a roulette table in their central california bungalow or troubleshooting a shock-giving computer taped to their body in a casino bathroom hoping security won't find them out. Its a human story because its about about creativity, determination, curiosity, fear, motivation, joy, friendship and pain. Its a techno-geek-as-hero story as they blaze trails at the forefront of computer technology before you could even think about buying a TRS-80, much less a Commodore 64. I think Azeel's review quite accurately hints at a successful fusion of eclectic but fascinating elements. - Is the book too long? Should the pace be quicker? Perhaps, but the bottom line is it works. Some other stories may be generally comparable as far as being in the category of true story of a group on some venture (e.g. Fullness of Wings by Dorsey) but Eudaemonic Pie is different than anything else I've read. Partially this is because the slice of time and place in the silicon valley spanning the era of post Vietnam-disco-hostage crisis-Reaganomics is different. It's not for everyone, if you don't give it a try you may miss out on a flavor not to be served anywhere else.

A group of students and researcher types are hanging out together and generally having a good time. They come up with a project, trying to beat casinos at roulette. After a long time spent on experiments and various methods, they manage to come up with one. It, of course involves various social techniques as well as the scientific ones to prevent them being booted out, as per usual. It is something that won't work today, though.

What this team set out to do was only possible to get away with during a very narrow window in history. Sharp analytical and electronic skills at the dawn of the microelectronic age made it possible, and at a time when casinos weren't paying much attention to the threat posed by this emerging technology. Those days are gone forever. The casinos finally wised up around 1983. Bass has done a great job of telling the story of how a couple of physics postgraduate students and their friends develop tiny computers controlled by toe switches enable them to achieve an edge over the casino at roulette. This was particularly poignant for me, because I independently developed similar wheel-clocking methods and verified a 26% advantage over the house on a rented casino quality roulette wheel in 1976. The 'device law', which Nevada passed in the early 80's in response to people attempting to use technology to sack their coffers, largely put an end to concealed computers in casinos. Those to whom a felony rap is no deterrent are presumably still at it, using extremely advanced and difficult-to-detect hardware. Bass' story is a fascinating read and highly reccommended.

A motley bunch of talented individuals driven by a mixture of altruism and selfishness but above all by a challenge simply because it is there, is a setting as old as humanity itself. This book is about one such enterprise. Mathematics, physics, chemistry, free thinking and sheer guts and the inevitable frustration, despondency and dropping out were the more specific components of this episode strung out over several years. For those interested in ~ the sixties era and its fallout into subsequent years ~ chaos theory ~ electronics ~ casino busting ~ aging hippies ~ mad scientists ~ sociology ~ anthropology ~ starting all over, this book is a must read. It is only the vastness of the human dimension where the author, perhaps understandably due to space and market niche considerations, has compromised. It would, otherwise, have been a five star book. (And considering it is out of print in any case, a lesson might be there for those who give disproportionate weight to market niches; When there is a richly textured tale to tell, go ahead and weave the rich tapestry. At the worst one's work might still go prematurely out of print but would leave at least one less unsatisfied reader and at the best....)