AMORALMAN by Derek DelGaudio

Truth and lies are two sides of the same coin. But who's flipping it? A thought-provoking and brilliantly entertaining work of nonfiction from one of the world's leading deceivers, the creator and star of the astonishing theater show and forthcoming film In & Of Itself. Derek DelGaudio believed he was a decent, honest man. But when irrefutable evidence to the contrary is found in an old journal, his memories are reawakened and Derek is forced to confront--and try to understand--his role in a significant act of deception from his past. Using his youthful notebook entries as a road map, Derek embarks on a soulful, often funny, sometimes dark journey, retracing the path that led him to a world populated by charlatans, card cheats, and con artists. As stories are peeled away and artifices are revealed, Derek examines the mystery behind his father's vanishing act, the secret he inherited from his mother, the obsession he developed with sleight-of-hand that shaped his future, and the affinity he felt for the professional swindlers who taught him how to deceive others. And once he finds himself working as a crooked dealer in a big-money Hollywood card game, Derek begins to question his own sense of morality, and discovers that even a master of deception can find himself trapped inside an illusion. A M O R A L M A N is a wildly engaging exploration of the fictions we live as truths. It is ultimately a book about the lies we tell ourselves and the realities we manufacture in others.

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.

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WHAT'S AMORALMAN ABOUT?

Derek DelGaudio is a performer. writer, and illusionist. This book claims (and that subtitle should make you suspect everything) to be an account of DelGaudio's childhood, his early interest in magic tricks and illusions—and then how he was introduced to card sharps, eventually becoming friends with some and learning how to use the card tricks he'd practiced for so long to become a cheat at cards.

At some point, he takes this theoretical knowledge into the practical—to help a good friend, despite that friend's former insistence that DelGaudio not follow him into that life. After some time exposed to this lifestyle, he has to make a choice? What kind of man is he? What place does morality hold?

It's tied throughout to Plato's Allegory of the Cave, the role of the perceptions, reality, and the participants.

THE TITLE

Obviously, DelGaudio is playing with things in the title. Is this book about a moral man? an amoral man? Is it a story without a moral?

How much of this is the true story and how much is a lie? It could be seen as a collection of stories—so is only one true, or is the overall narrative true, with a scattering of lies?

I'm mildly amused by that, but I really don't think I care.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT AMORALMAN?

Ehhhhh. I wanted more. And not in a "this was so good, I've got to have more" kind of way, but in a "this was okay, but...is this all there was?" way. Ultimately, what we're dealing with is a memoir that tells you upfront (and repeats it) that at least some of what you're told is a lie—and probably not just from those people who are liars by vocation.

I thought the premise promised more. I expected to get something with a bit more meat on it. A bit more to chew on.

Still, DelGaudio can tell a story. You get engaged right away and you're eager to see how this detached, disinterested, and largely aimless kid becomes the guy who stars in In & Of Itself*. We don't get that answer, but it's not hard to see the foundation being laid.

* And, yeah, I bought this book without knowing anything about it because of the film version.

I do think I'd read another book by DelGaudio—I'm curious about what else he has to offer. And I do think that people interested in his other work would find something compelling here. But that's about as much as I can say—you won't be wasting your time.