Paperback of this bitingly funny, refreshing take on male friendship, rivalry and life's petty failures, revolving around a group of men who meet monthly in each other's houses to play a 'friendly' game of poker. Doug, with his big house, his successful business and his appalling taste is both everything that Nick aspires to and resents, and he becomes obsessed with the idea of engineering Doug's downfall. Nick aims to triumph over him in poker, as well as life, and in so doing comes into troubling proximity with Sophia, Doug's clever and beautiful wife. 'Comic and entertaining' }TLS{