BOA Blog

        Publishers Weekly recently ran new reviews of James McManus' The Education of a Poker Player and Ray Gonzalez's Beautiful Wall.On The Education of a Poker Player: "McManus tracks the tribulations of boyhood with ironic humor in the seven linked stories that make up this portrait of a feisty young Catholic boy in 1960s suburban Illinois. . . . This entertaining coming-of-age tale treads lightly on issues of guilt, opting instead to allow witty cultural references and a likable voice to carry the narrative. The title is catchy, but the most memorable scenes here don't involve much...

Dan Klefstad, "Morning Edition" Host for Northern Public Radio, has announced that James McManus will be featured in the highly-anticipated 2015 Winter Book Series. The series, which airs Mondays in December during WNIJ's "Morning Edition" show, is the place for listeners and fans to learn about literature from northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. This December, it will feature "four books that belong on your shelf or e-reader," one of them being James McManus's new book The Education of a Poker Player. The Winter Book Series returns Mondays in December, featuring Craig Hart (December 7), Joe Gastiger (December 14), Christine Sneed...

Dallas Morning News has featured a new review of James McManus's fall 2015 book The Education of a Poker Player. Reviewer Alex Lemon praises the work, particularly McManus's voice, which he calls "fresh, original, and alive." "McManus’s straightforward prose sharpens slyly as Vince’s evolving narration comes of age. The Education of a Poker Player follows Vince as his inner life is shaped and reshaped by theological devotion, burgeoning sexuality, and the ramrod vicissitudes of the people that surround him . . . Hilarious tensions begin working their way through the story line because Vince is just as curious about his expanding world...

BOA author James McManus is the subject of a recent feature article from Brazos Bookstore. The interview, conducted by Benjamin Rybeck, focuses on McManus's new book The Education of a Poker Player, and where this latest work fits into the author's already-impressive bibliography. In the interview, McManus ruminates on narrative, genre, fame, religion, and of course, poker. According to Rybeck, "On this subject—the literature (and history) of poker—McManus is more qualified than nearly anyone else. Not that he’s the world’s greatest poker player; he would admit that himself. But he is the author of two damn near definitive nonfiction poker books," Positively...

Small BOA exhibit currently on display at the university's Rush Rhees Library. As BOA Editions looks ahead to its 40th anniversary in 2016, the University of Rochester is also reaffirming its belief in the importance of BOA’s history and future. In 2005, the university acquired BOA’s 1996-2005 publishing archives, which include materials related to the publication of BOA books and the organization’s general operations. In 2016, the university will make a Finding Aid for these holdings available online, which will enable scholars to search, utilize, and focus their research on particular pieces of the complete BOA Publishing Archives. BOA is...