Engaging and fast-paced, this gripping coming-of-age novel of chess, feminism, and addiction speeds to a conclusion as elegant and satisfying as a mate in four.

Eight year-old orphan Beth Harmon is quiet, sullen, and by all appearances unremarkable. That is, until she plays her first game of chess. Her senses grow sharper, her thinking clearer, and for the first time in her life she feels herself fully in control. By the age of sixteen, she's competing for the U.S. Open championship. But as Beth hones her skills on the professional circuit, the stakes get higher, her isolation...

After 20 years of hibernation, former pool champion "Fast" Eddie Felson is now ready to regain the skills needed to compete in a world of pool that has changed dramatically since he left it behind. "The Color of Money" is the source of the 1986 film starring Paul Newman in the role he had originated in "The Hustler."