Colson Whitehead discusses his search for meaning at high stakes poker tables. A longtime neighborhood poker player, Whitehead was given a $10,000 stake and an assignment from the online online magazine Grantland to see how far he could get in the World Series of Poker. After weeks of preparation he went to Las Vegas to try his luck in the multi-million dollar tournament. He’s written about his experience in The Noble Hustle: Poker, Beef Jerky, and Death, a funny social satire that Whitehead describes as “Eat, Pray, Love for depressed shut-ins.”