Fyodor Dostoevsky
Long before Kenny Rogers crooned out some rather obvious lyrics about knowing when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em, there was another artist who made the simple title The Gambler famous. Fyodor Dostoevsky is not a name that is often associated with the world of gambling. He is more noted as an intellectual and writer. Most of us are at least familiar with his most famous novel, Crime and Punishment, but he is also the author of a less known book that is simply titled, The Gambler.
Dostoevsky was no stranger to the practice of gambling. He was the type of pathological gambling addict that would, in modern times, be on the wrong end of an intervention, and be forced into groups like gamblers anonymous. Even his masterpiece, Crime and Punishment, was finished in a mad rush because his losses were piling up and he was in desperate need of the advance from his publisher.
The Gambler was written simultaneously with Crime and Punishment. This book was also hurried out to satisfy an agreement with the publisher regarding new work. Had he failed to deliver The Gambler in a timely manner, the publisher would have claimed the copyrights to the entire catalogue of Fyodor's published works.
Writing The Gambler was easy for Dostoevsky. This was subject material that he was very familiar with. Though it is not entirely autobiographical, the book does express the emotional tug of war that he himself felt when gambling. His experience was the essence of the joy of victory and the agony of defeat. It also put into words the strange compulsion that drew him to the tables in the first place.
Dostoevsky eventually left Russia in an effort to escape those whom he owed money to, and experience the casinos of Western Europe. This flight was followed by his marriage in 1867, and went on to spur the most creative period in his career.
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