Blood Meridian; or, The Evening Redness in the West is a 1985 anti-Western epic historical novel by American author Cormac McCarthy . McCarthy's fifth book, it was published by Random House .
99-578: The Kid or The Kids may refer to: Fictional characters [ edit ] The kid ( Blood Meridian ) , a character in Cormac McCarthy's 1985 novel Blood Meridian The Kid ( The Matrix ) , a character in the Matrix film series The Kid ( The Stand ) , a character in Stephen King's 1978 novel The Stand Marshall Eriksen or The Kid,
198-482: A 2008 interview with Eclipse Magazine Scott confirmed that the screenplay had been written, but that the extensive violence was proving to be a challenge for film standards. This later led to Scott and Monahan leaving the project, resulting in another abandoned adaptation. By early 2011, James Franco was considering adapting Blood Meridian , along with a number of other William Faulkner and Cormac McCarthy novels. After being persuaded by Andrew Dominik to adapt
297-422: A 2015 Taiwanese film The Kid (2019 film) , a film by Vincent D'Onofrio Music [ edit ] The Kid (musical) , a 2010 musical based on the book by Dan Savage The Kids (Belgian band) , a punk rock band The Kids (Norwegian band) , a rock band The Kids (garage rock band) , a 1960s band whose song "Nature's Children" is included on the compilation album Pebbles, Volume 10 The Kids,
396-517: A South Florida rock band that included Johnny Depp "The Kids", a song by B.o.B from B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray "The Kid", a song by Eric Burdon from Survivor "The Kids", a song by Eminem from The Marshall Mathers LP "The Kids", a song by Hollywood Undead "The Kids", a song by Lou Reed from Berlin Nickname or ring name [ edit ] Frank Bourne (1854–1945), British soldier, last known survivor of
495-560: A book by Dan Savage The Kids (book) , a 2021 poetry book by Hannah Lowe, Costa Book of the Year Haedi or the Kids, a pair of stars in the constellation Auriga See also [ edit ] Kid (disambiguation) Kidd (disambiguation) Kydd (disambiguation) All pages with titles beginning with The Kid Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with
594-860: A character in How I Met Your Mother The Kid, a character in the 1984 film Purple Rain , played by Prince The Kid, the narrator of Samuel R. Delany's 1975 novel Dhalgren The Kid, a character in Bastion The Kid, a character in Driver: Parallel Lines The Kid, a character in Freedom Fighters The Kid, a character in I Wanna Be the Guy The Kid, a character in Jak II Films [ edit ] The Kid (1910 film) ,
693-606: A ferry on the Colorado River at Yuma, Arizona . Local Yuma ( Quechan ) Indians are at first approached to help the gang wrest control of the ferry from its original owners, but Glanton's gang betrays and slaughters them and the passengers so they can plunder the ferry and frame the Indians for the attack. After a while, the Yumas vengefully attack and kill most of the gang in a second wave. The kid, Toadvine, and Tobin are among
792-672: A filibuster in Chihuahua , the kid is set free when his acquaintance Toadvine tells the authorities they will make useful Indian hunters. They join John Joel Glanton and his gang, among them Holden, and the bulk of the novel is devoted to detailing their activities and conversations. Though originally tasked with protecting locals from marauding Apaches , the gang devolves into the outright murder of unthreatening Indians, unprotected Mexican villages, and eventually even Mexican soldiers and anyone else who crosses their path, collecting
891-548: A film by Frank Powell The Kid (1921 film) , a Charlie Chaplin film The Kid (1950 film) , a Hong Kong film that stars a young Bruce Lee The Kid (1997 film) , a film featuring Rod Steiger The Kid (1999 film) , a Hong Kong film Disney's The Kid , a 2000 film starring Bruce Willis The Kid (2001 film) , an animated TV film based on a story by Gahan Wilson The Kid (2010 film) , an adaptation by Nick Moran of Kevin Lewis's book The Kids (film) ,
990-461: A fire in each of the holes, and an assortment of wanderers trails behind him. A major theme is the warlike nature of man. Critic Harold Bloom praised Blood Meridian as one of the best 20th century American novels, "worthy of Herman Melville 's Moby-Dick ," but admitted that his "first two attempts to read through Blood Meridian failed, because [he] flinched from the overwhelming carnage". Caryn James of The New York Times argued that
1089-581: A former girlfriend who would become his wife in 1982. One of the reasons Ungar eventually took up poker exclusively was because gin action had dried up due to his skilled reputation. Ungar destroyed anyone who challenged him in a gin match, including a professional widely regarded as the best gin player of Ungar's generation, Harry "Yonkie" Stein. Ungar beat Stein 86 games to none in a high-stakes game of Hollywood Gin, after which Stein dropped out of sight in gin circles and eventually stopped playing professionally. As one observer who knew him put it, Stein "was never
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#17327755709441188-413: A fossilized skull three hundred millennia old seemed to have been scalped. Regarding the meaning of the epigraphs, David H. Evans writes that [t]he taking of scalps, as McCarthy's third epigraph suggests, enjoys a profound antiquity, one coterminous with, perhaps, the beginnings of the species Homo sapiens . The narrative closes with ambiguity pertaining to the final state of the kid, or the man. Since
1287-475: A gin match on purpose in order to collect a large side bet. The opponent would have someone else place the bet, and upon winning they would split the large payoff with Ungar. However, Ungar indicated that pride in his own skill would not allow him to do this; apparently he could not stand the idea of someone having a victory against him, even an illegitimate one. During the 1992 World Series of Poker , Ungar faced off against 1990 World Champion Mansour Matloubi in
1386-598: A high stakes game at the Bellagio around this time. On November 20, 1998, Ungar checked into room No. 6 at the Oasis Motel, a budget motel located at the end of the Las Vegas Strip. Ungar paid just $ 48 per night for two nights. On November 22, he was found in the room dead, lying on the floor, fully clothed and with the television off. Doyle Brunson was quoted as saying "Everybody felt terrible, but it wasn't
1485-604: A local gin tournament at age 10. He dropped out of school to play gin rummy in the 1960s full-time to help support his mother and sister after his father died, and began regularly winning tournaments which earned him $ 10,000 or more. By 1976, he was regarded as one of the best players in New York City. Ungar eventually had to leave New York due to gambling debts at local race tracks. He later moved to Miami, Florida , to find more action. In 1977, Ungar left Miami for Las Vegas, Nevada , where he reunited with Madeline Wheeler,
1584-458: A name for himself. Ungar was gifted at school and skipped seventh grade, but then dropped out of school in tenth grade. Ido died of a heart attack on July 25, 1967. Following his father's death, and with his mother virtually incapacitated by a stroke , Ungar drifted around the New York gambling scene until age 18, when he was befriended by reputed organized crime figure Victor Romano. Romano
1683-630: A point that during the WSOP Main Event in 1990 , Ungar was found on the third day of the tournament unconscious on the floor of his hotel room from a drug overdose. However, he had such a chip lead that even when the dealers kept taking his blinds out every orbit, Ungar still made the final table and finished ninth without playing another hand, pocketing $ 25,050. His addiction took such a physical toll that in an ESPN piece, many of Ungar's friends and fellow competitors said that they thought that he would not live to see his fortieth birthday. In
1782-401: A posthumous credit following his death on June 13, 2023. John Logan was later announced to be adapting the story. Stu Ungar Stuart Errol Ungar (September 8, 1953 – November 22, 1998) was an American professional poker , blackjack , and gin rummy player, widely regarded to have been the greatest gin player of all time and one of the best Texas hold 'em players. Ungar
1881-556: A quarrel took place and blood shed, his hog-like eyes would gleam with a sullen ferocity worthy of the countenance of a fiend ... Terrible stories were circulated in camp of horrid crimes committed by him when bearing another name in the Cherokee nation in Texas. And before we left Fronteras, a little girl of ten years was found in the chaparral foully violated and murdered. The mark of a huge hand on her little throat pointed out him as
1980-553: A screenplay in 1995. In the late 1990s, Tommy Lee Jones acquired the film adaptation rights to the story and subsequently rewrote Tesich's screenplay with the idea of directing and playing a role in it. The production could not move forward due to film studios avoiding the project's overall violence. Following the end of production for Kingdom of Heaven in 2004, screenwriter William Monahan and director Ridley Scott entered discussions with producer Scott Rudin for adapting Blood Meridian with Paramount Pictures financing. In
2079-419: A series of $ 50,000 buy-in no limit hold'em heads-up freezeout events. On the final hand of the game, Matloubi tried to bluff Ungar all-in for $ 32,000 on the river with a board of 3-3-7-K-Q. Ungar, who held 10-9, thought for a few seconds and said to Matloubi, "You have 4-5 or 5-6 so I'm gonna call you with this" and flipped over his 10-high to win the pot and bust Matloubi, who in fact held 4-5 offsuit. Ungar
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#17327755709442178-443: A slit in the doorway, Spilotro's son Vincent witnessed his father beat Ungar brutally, not for losing money or not having reported, but for the disrespect of bringing a gun into his home. His relationship with Spilotro was one that helped define Las Vegas of the 1980s. Despite owning several expensive cars, Ungar rarely drove. This could have possibly come from the time he purchased a brand new Mercedes sports car and drove it until
2277-516: A surprise." Among his possessions was $ 800 of a $ 25,000 advance from Bob Stupak, who earlier in the month Ungar had signed a contract with to pay off debts and finance his tournament play in exchange for future winnings. No drugs were found in the room. It is unknown where the remainder of the money went. An autopsy showed traces of drugs in Ungar's system, but not enough to have directly caused his death. The medical examiner concluded that his death
2376-555: A tent in Nacogdoches, Texas , at which Holden falsely accuses the preacher of raping children and goats, inciting the audience to attack him. After a violent encounter with a bartender that establishes the kid as a formidable fighter, he joins a party of ill-equipped U.S. Army irregulars on a filibustering mission led by a Captain White. White's group is overwhelmed by a Comanche raiding party, and few of them survive. Arrested as
2475-411: A time when Ungar asked him how he was doing. He responded that he was OK, but struggling a little financially. Ungar immediately took $ 10,000 cash out of his pocket and gave it to him, saying "Take it. It's yours. Pay me back when you can. And if you don't pay me back, that's OK too." One time, he was walking through Las Vegas with Doyle Brunson. A man stopped him and asked for some money. Ungar pulled out
2574-417: A tongue lashing from Baxter, Ungar settled in and made it through the day. During the tournament, Ungar kept a picture of his daughter Stefanie in his wallet, and he regularly called her with updates on his progress. Following an up-and-down first day, Ungar showed up for each subsequent day well rested and mentally sharp. He would go on to amass a large chip lead and carry the lead into the final table. Ungar
2673-411: A yet more terrible clarity than does Melville. Since the novel's release many have noted its cinematic potential. The New York Times ' 1985 review noted that the novel depicted "scenes that might have come off a movie screen". There have been attempts to create a motion picture adaptation of Blood Meridian , but all have failed during the development or pre-production stages. A common perception
2772-456: Is nihilistic or strongly moral , a satire of the western genre or a savage indictment of Manifest Destiny . Harold Bloom called it "the ultimate western". J. Douglas Canfield described it as "a grotesque Bildungsroman in which we are denied access to the protagonist's consciousness almost entirely". Richard Selzer declared that McCarthy "is a genius – also probably somewhat insane." Critic Steven Shaviro wrote: In
2871-528: Is a thing that is swallowed up in death, and death and dying are the very life of the darkness. No specific conclusions have been reached about its interpretation nor relevance to the novel. Critics agree that there are Gnostic elements in Blood Meridian , but they disagree on the precise meaning and implication of those elements. Leo Daugherty argues that "Gnostic thought is central to Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian ", (Daugherty, 122) specifically
2970-547: Is described in Chamberlain's account but is otherwise unknown. Chamberlain writes: The second in command, now left in charge of the camp, was a man of gigantic size who rejoiced in the name of Holden, called Judge Holden of Texas. Who or what he was no one knew, but a cooler-more blooded villain never went unhung. He stood six foot six in his moccasins, had a large, fleshy frame, a dull, tallow-colored face destitute of hair and all expression, always cool and collected. But when
3069-409: Is gradually filled by Judge Holden , a physically massive, highly educated, preternaturally skilled member of the gang with pale and hairless skin who takes extreme sadistic pleasure in the destruction and domination of whatever he encounters, including children and docile animals. Although the novel initially received lukewarm critical and commercial reception, it has since become highly acclaimed and
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3168-489: Is judge of, and that "the night does not end". The kid recovers and seeks out Tobin, with no luck. He makes his way to Los Angeles, where Toadvine and another member of the Glanton gang, David Brown, were hanged for their crimes. In 1878, the kid, now in his mid-40s and referred to as "the man", makes his way to Fort Griffin , Texas. At a saloon he meets Holden, who seems not to have aged in the intervening years. Holden calls
3267-603: Is one of two people in poker history to have won the World Series of Poker Main Event three times. He is the only person to win Amarillo Slim 's Super Bowl of Poker three times, the world's second most prestigious poker title of its time. Additionally, Ungar is one of only four players in poker history to win consecutive titles in the WSOP Main Event, along with Johnny Moss , Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan . Ungar
3366-440: Is separated from Tobin and is subsequently imprisoned. Holden visits the kid in jail, and tells him that he has told the jailers "the truth": that the kid alone was responsible for the end of the Glanton gang. The kid is released on recognizance and seeks a doctor to treat his wound. While recovering from the effects of anesthesia , he hallucinates a visit from Holden along with a curious man who forges coins, and learns what Holden
3465-417: Is that the story is " unfilmable " due to its unrelenting violence and dark tone. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal in 2009 McCarthy denied this notion, with his perspective being that it would be "very difficult to do and would require someone with a bountiful imagination and a lot of balls. But the payoff could be extraordinary." Screenwriter Steve Tesich first adapted Blood Meridian into
3564-540: Is widely recognized as McCarthy's magnum opus and one of the greatest American novels of all time . Some have labelled it the Great American Novel . The novel tells the story of a teenaged runaway referred to only as "the kid", who was born in Tennessee during the famously active Leonids meteor shower of 1833. He first meets the enormous, pale, hairless Judge Holden at a religious revival in
3663-533: The 1983 World Series of Poker , Ungar won his fourth bracelet. He defeated professional poker player and multi-WSOP bracelet winner Dewey Tomko in the $ 5,000 Seven Card Stud event, winning $ 110,000. Ungar's prodigy-level IQ and total recall contributed to his blackjack card counting abilities, which were so sharp that he was frequently banned from playing in casinos; he was eventually unable to play blackjack in Las Vegas or anywhere else. In 1977, Ungar
3762-634: The American frontier with a loose historical context, the narrative follows a fictional teenager from Tennessee referred to as "the kid", with the bulk of the text devoted to his experiences with the Glanton gang , a historical group of scalp hunters who massacred American Indians and others in the United States–Mexico borderlands from 1849 to 1850 for bounty , sadistic pleasure , and eventually out of nihilistic habit . The role of antagonist
3861-453: The Persian - Zoroastrian - Manichean branch of Gnosticism. He describes the novel as a "rare coupling of Gnostic 'ideology' with the 'affect' of Hellenic tragedy by means of depicting how power works in the making and erasing of culture, and of what the human condition amounts to when a person opposes that power and thence gets introduced to fate ." Daugherty sees Holden as an archon and
3960-410: The greatest works of American literature . Some have called it the Great American Novel . American literary critic Harold Bloom praised Blood Meridian as one of the 20th century's finest novels. Aleksandar Hemon has called it "possibly the greatest American novel of the past 25 years". David Foster Wallace named it one of the five most underappreciated American novels since 1960 and "[p]robably
4059-423: The $ 1 million first prize. Ungar was dubbed "The Comeback Kid" by the Las Vegas media because of the 16-year span between his main event wins as well as his past drug abuse. During the 1997 WSOP, Ungar wore a pair of round, cobalt blue-tinted sunglasses to, according to co-biographer Peter Alson, "hide the fact that his nostrils had collapsed from cocaine abuse." Ungar spent all of his 1997 WSOP prize money over
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4158-470: The 1997 Main Event Final Table, Ungar told ESPN TV commentator Gabe Kaplan that the 1980 WSOP was the first time he had ever played a Texas hold'em tournament. (Ungar's first tournament, however, was the 1980 Super Bowl of Poker Main Event, which Kaplan himself won. Ungar finished 34th of 41 players.) Poker legend Doyle Brunson remarked that it was the first time he had seen a player improve as
4257-1515: The Battle of Rorke's Drift Billy the Kid (1859–1881), American Old West outlaw Ted Williams (1918–2002), Major League Baseball player Stu Ungar (1953–1998), professional poker and gin rummy player Gary Carter (1954-2012), Major League Baseball player Robin Yount (born 1955), Major League Baseball player Mark Ryan (guitarist) (1959-2011), English punk rock guitarist and playwright Carlos Valderrama (footballer) (born 1961), Colombian footballer Gary Jacobs (boxer) (born 1965), professional Scottish boxer Ken Griffey Jr. (born 1969), American retired Major League Baseball player Sean Waltman (born 1972), professional wrestler John Higgins (born 1975), professional snooker player Kevin Garnett (born 1976), National Basketball Association player Julian Gardner (poker player) (born 1978), professional poker player Yossi Benayoun (born 1980), Israeli footballer Kerby Raymundo (born 1981), Filipino professional basketball player Fernando Torres (born 1984), Spanish footballer Sidney Crosby (born 1987), National Hockey League player Joseph Marquez (born 1991), professional Super Smash Bros. Melee player Other uses [ edit ] The Kid (artist) , contemporary artist The Kid (book) ,
4356-561: The Judge's kicking of a head is an allusion to Dante 's similar action in the Inferno . The second of the three epigraphs which introduce the novel, taken from the Christian theosophist Jakob Böhme , has incited varied discussion. The quote from Boehme is: It is not to be thought that the life of darkness is sunk in misery and lost as if in sorrowing. There is no sorrowing. For sorrow
4455-528: The Old West; "[R]eaders encounter characters that are often depicted as more animal than human in their behaviors, participating in a ruthless struggle for fortune and power. It is the absence of a recognizable heroic character along with the negation of the Eurocentric oppositions that McCarthy's deployment of animal imagery is meant to illuminate." James D. Lilley argues that many critics struggle with
4554-595: The advice of fellow poker players because of the drug's ability to keep someone up and energized for a long period of time, something that would come in handy during marathon poker sessions. However, recreational use soon led to addiction. Ungar and Madeline were married in 1982 and had a daughter, Stefanie, that same year. Ungar also legally adopted Madeline's son from her first marriage, Richie, who adored Ungar and took his surname. Ungar and Madeline divorced in 1986. Richie died by suicide in 1989, shortly after his high school prom. Ungar's drug problem escalated to such
4653-599: The available resources, enough to give them the advantage against the Apaches. When the kid remembers seeing Holden in Nacogdoches, Tobin tells the kid that each man in the gang claims to have met the judge at some point before joining the Glanton gang. After months of marauding and scalp hunting, the gang crosses into the Mexican Cession , where they eventually set up a systematic and brutal robbing operation at
4752-506: The book portrays violence in explicit detail, this allusive portrayal has caused comment. Given Judge Holden's history and other details in the text, he presumably rapes the man before killing him. Alternatively, perhaps the point is that readers can never know. David Vann argues that the setting of the American southwest which the Gang traverses is representative of hell. Vann claims that
4851-469: The book. Critics have repeatedly demonstrated that even brief and seemingly inconsequential passages of Blood Meridian rely on historical evidence. The book has been described as "as close to history as novels generally get". The Glanton gang segments are based on Samuel Chamberlain 's account of the group in his memoir My Confession: The Recollections of a Rogue . Chamberlain rode with John Joel Glanton and his company between 1849 and 1850. Judge Holden
4950-409: The country, the agent replied that for a small fee, they could push the necessary forms through quicker for him. Ungar misconstrued this as a request for a bribe, something he was used to back in New York when with Romano. He had no problem doing this and slipped the agent a $ 100 bill. However the agent was actually referring to a small "expedite fee" that was common for all passport applicants. The agent
5049-470: The course of a match, realizing he could not win and eventually get a look of desperation on his face. Shortly after arriving in Las Vegas, Ungar defeated professional gambler Billy Baxter for $ 40,000. Baxter noted that when Ungar first entered the room, Baxter did not believe he was his opponent because of Ungar's youthful looks and small stature. Baxter also said that during their match, a Coca-Cola crate had to be placed on Ungar's chair so he could reach
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#17327755709445148-415: The course of the next few months, mainly on drugs and sports betting. He attempted to give up drugs several times at the behest of Stefanie but stayed clean for only weeks at a time before relapsing. As the 1998 WSOP approached, Baxter again offered to pay his entry fee to the main event. However, ten minutes before play started, Ungar told Baxter he was tired and did not feel like playing. Ungar later said
5247-478: The dealer position, all of which put him at a strong disadvantage. When Ungar first visited Las Vegas in 1977, gin was still popular in a tournament format, much like heads up poker tournaments. Ungar won or finished highly in so many gin tournaments that several casinos asked him to not play in them because many players said they would not enter if they knew Ungar was playing. Ungar later said in his biography that he loved seeing his opponent slowly break down over
5346-512: The entire range of American literature , only Moby-Dick bears comparison to Blood Meridian. Both are epic in scope, cosmically resonant, obsessed with open space and with language, exploring vast uncharted distances with a fanatically patient minuteness. Both manifest a sublime visionary power that is matched only by still more ferocious irony . Both savagely explode the American dream of manifest destiny of racial domination and endless imperial expansion. But if anything, McCarthy writes with
5445-401: The fact that McCarthy does not use violence for "jury-rigged, symbolic plot resolutions ... In McCarthy's work, violence tends to be just that; it is not a sign or symbol of something else." In her aforementioned review, Caryn James noted that McCarthy depicts characters of all backgrounds as evil, in contrast to contemporary "revisionist theories that make white men the villains and Indians
5544-445: The final book were written in one go, "including the astonishing 'legion of horribles' passage". A legion of horribles, hundreds in number, half naked or clad in costumes attic or biblical or wardrobed out of a fevered dream with the skins of animals and silk finery [...]. Cormac McCarthy , Blood Meridian , IV. McCarthy worked on the novel while living on the money he received from his MacArthur Fellows grant in 1981. It
5643-571: The game of single-deck blackjack, playing strategy (i.e. how to play a hand and deviate from basic strategy ) brings more benefits to the player than betting strategy (i.e. how much to bet on the upcoming round). Ungar continued to play blackjack at the Lady Luck for six months. He built his bankroll up to as much as $ 300,000 but eventually busted out. Ungar's mother had died in 1979. It was also around this time that Ungar began using cocaine . He noted in his autobiography that at first he used it on
5742-451: The interpretation of the novel. Americanist Dana Phillips said that the work "seems designed to elude interpretation". One scholar has described Blood Meridian as: Lyrical at times, at others simply archaic and recondite, at still others barely literate: the dissociative style of Blood Meridian defies accommodation to conventional assumptions. And that's the point. Nonetheless, academics and critics have suggested that Blood Meridian
5841-497: The judge's creation from volcanic rock. McCarthy's writing style involves many unusual or archaic words, dialogue in Spanish, no quotation marks for dialogue, and no apostrophes to signal most contractions. McCarthy told Oprah Winfrey in an interview that he preferred "simple declarative sentences" and that he used capital letters, periods, an occasional comma, a colon for setting off a list, but never semicolons. He believed there
5940-456: The kid as a "failed pneuma ." He says that the kid feels a "spark of the alien divine." Daugherty further contends that the violence of the novel can best be understood through a Gnostic lens. " Evil " as defined by the Gnostics was a far larger, more pervasive presence in human life than the rather tame and "domesticated" Satan of Christianity. As Daugherty writes, "For [Gnostics], evil
6039-423: The kid's goodness. Douglas Canfield asserts that theodicy is the central theme of Blood Meridian . James Wood took a similar position, recognizing as a recurrent theme in the novel the issue of the general justification of metaphysical goodness in the presence of evil. Chris Dacus expressed his preference for discussing the theme of theodicy in its eschatological terms in comparison to the theological scene of
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#17327755709446138-421: The last judgment. [1] This preference for reading theodicy as an eschatological theme was further affirmed by Harold Bloom in his recurrent phrase of referring to the novel as "The Authentic Apocalyptic Novel." McCarthy began writing Blood Meridian in the mid-1970s. In a letter sent around 1979 he said that he had not touched Blood Meridian in six months out of frustration. Nonetheless, significant parts of
6237-534: The main event, he was banned from Binion's Horseshoe by Benny Binion because he spat in the face of a dealer after losing a sizable pot in a high-stakes game. Binion's son Jack interceded and convinced his father to let Ungar play, citing the media attention that the defending champion would attract. As the reigning world champion, Ungar won his second bracelet in 1981 in the $ 10,000 Deuce to Seven Draw event, defeating 1978 world champion Bobby Baldwin in heads-up play. For this victory, Ungar received $ 95,000. In
6336-419: The man "the last of the true", and the pair talk. Holden declares that the man has arrived at the saloon for "the dance" – the dance of violence, war, and bloodshed that the judge had so often praised. The man disputes Holden's ideas and, noting the performing bear at the saloon, states that "even a dumb animal can dance". When the man goes to an outhouse under another meteor shower shortly afterwards, he runs into
6435-411: The most horrifying book of this [20th] century, at least [in] fiction." Time magazine included Blood Meridian in its "Time 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005". In 2010 The New York Times conducted a poll of writers and critics regarding the most important works in American fiction from the previous 25 years, and Blood Meridian was a runner-up. There has been no consensus in
6534-401: The naked Holden, who holds him to his chest and shuts the door. Later, two men open the door to the outhouse and gaze in awe and horror at what they see. The last paragraph finds the judge back in the saloon, dancing and playing the fiddle, saying that he never sleeps and will never die. In the epilogue, a man is augering lines of holes across the prairie, perhaps for fence posts. The man sparks
6633-401: The novel's violence was a "slap in the face" to modern readers cut off from brutality. Terrence Morgan thought the effect of the violence initially shocking but then waned until the reader was desensitized. Billy J. Stratton of Arizona Quarterly contends that the brutality is the primary mechanism through which McCarthy challenges the "oppositional structure" of the conventional narrative of
6732-475: The novel, Franco shot 25 minutes of test footage starring Scott Glenn , Mark Pellegrino , Luke Perry , and Dave Franco . For undisclosed reasons, Rudin denied further production of the film. On May 5, 2016, Variety revealed that Franco was negotiating with Rudin to write and direct an adaptation to be brought to the Marché du Film , starring Russell Crowe , Tye Sheridan , and Vincent D'Onofrio . However, it
6831-416: The play of opponents he felt were beneath him, which included just about anyone. One of Ungar's most famous quotes sums up his competitiveness: "I never want to be called a 'good loser.' Show me a good loser and I'll just show you a loser." However, his relationship with Romano gave Ungar protection from various gamblers who did not take kindly to his crass attitude and assassin-like playing style. Ungar won
6930-570: The ravisher as no other man had such a hand. But though all suspected, no one charged him with the crime. He was by far the best educated man in northern Mexico. McCarthy's judge was added to his manuscript in the late 1970s, a "grotesque patchwork of up-river Kurtz and Milton 's Satan " and Chamberlain's account. McCarthy physically retraced the Glanton Gang's path through Mexico multiple times, and noted topography and fauna. He studied such topics as homemade gunpowder to accurately depict
7029-456: The real reason he chose not to play in the event was due to his drug abuse in the weeks prior to the tournament. He noted that he felt showing up in his current condition would be more embarrassing than not showing up at all. In November 1998, Ungar was looking to clean up his life. His friend Bob Stupak made an arrangement to stake Ungar over a period of time as a fresh start for Ungar. Baxter noted in Ungar's biography that he also backed him in
7128-432: The same after that night." After beating Stein and several other top gin professionals, Ungar was a marked man. Nobody wanted to play him in gin. In the hopes of generating more action for himself, Ungar began offering potential opponents handicaps to even the playing field. He was known to let his opponent (professional or not) look at the last card in the deck, offer rebates to defeated opponents and always play each hand in
7227-407: The same piece, one friend said that the only thing that kept him alive was his determination to see his daughter grow up. Most of Ungar's winnings at the poker table he lost quickly betting on sports or horses, always looking for "action". Many of Ungar's friends, including Mike Sexton , began to encourage him to enter drug rehab and offered to pay for Ungar to receive treatment at any facility in
7326-599: The scalps of Indians to turn in for money whilst looting and massacring the Mexican forces. According to the kid's new companion Ben Tobin, an "ex-priest", the Glanton gang first met Judge Holden while fleeing for their lives from a much larger Apache group. In the middle of a blasted desert, they found Holden sitting on an enormous boulder, where he seemingly was waiting for and expecting the gang. They agreed to follow his leadership, and he took them to an extinct volcano where he instructed them on how to manufacture gunpowder with
7425-529: The survivors who flee into the desert, though the kid takes an arrow in the leg. The kid and Tobin head west, and come across Holden, who first negotiates, then threatens them for their gun and possessions. Holden shoots Tobin in the neck, and the wounded pair hide among bones by a desert creek. Tobin repeatedly urges the kid to fire upon Holden. The kid does so, but misses his mark. The survivors continue their travels, ending up in San Diego, California . The kid
7524-481: The table. Though he is nowadays more well known for his poker accomplishments, Ungar regarded himself as a better gin rummy player, once stating, Some day, I suppose it's possible for someone to be a better no limit hold 'em player than me. I doubt it, but it could happen. But, I swear to you, I don't see how anyone could ever play gin better than me. In 1980 , Ungar entered the World Series of Poker (WSOP) looking for more high-stakes action. In an interview for
7623-481: The title The Kid . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Kid&oldid=1191354346 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Nicknames Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages The kid (Blood Meridian) Set in
7722-405: The tournament went on. Ungar won the main event, defeating Brunson to become the youngest champion in its history (surpassed first by Phil Hellmuth in 1989 , then others). Ungar looked even younger than he was, and was dubbed "The Kid." Ungar would defend his title successfully at the 1981 WSOP by defeating Perry Green . Ungar was nearly not allowed to defend his title. Several days before
7821-471: The vehicle ran out of oil and broke down. He brought it back to the dealership and was told by a mechanic that it had no oil and thus would not run. Ungar replied, "Why the hell didn't you tell me you had to put oil in the car?" He preferred to take a taxicab virtually anywhere he went, even from his home in Las Vegas to the casinos, which were only a short distance away. Ungar was known to be a large tipper to cabbies and casino employees, regardless of whether he
7920-536: The victims." "You can find meanness in the least of creatures, but when God made man the Devil was at his elbow. A creature that can do anything" The Old Hermit, pg. 19 Three epigraphs open the book: quotations from French writer Paul Valéry , from German Christian mystic Jakob Böhme , and a 1982 news clipping from the Yuma Sun reporting the claim of members of an Ethiopian archeological excavation that
8019-424: The world. Ungar refused, citing several people he knew who had been to rehab previously who told him that drugs were easier to obtain in rehab than on the street. In 1997 , Ungar was deeply in debt and clearly showed physical damage from his years of addiction. However, he would receive the $ 10,000 buy-in to the WSOP Main Event from fellow poker pro and friend Billy Baxter moments before the tournament started and
8118-493: Was bet $ 100,000 by Bob Stupak , an owner and designer of casinos, that he could not count down half a six-deck shoe and determine the last three decks (156 cards). Ungar won the bet. Ungar was fined in 1982 by the New Jersey Gaming Commission for allegedly cheating while playing blackjack in an Atlantic City casino. The casino said that Ungar "capped" a bet (put extra chips on a winning hand after it
8217-482: Was born to Jewish parents Isidore (1907–1967) and Faye Ungar (1916–1979). He was raised on Manhattan's Lower East Side . His father, Isidore ("Ido") Ungar, was a bookmaker and loan shark who ran a bar/social club called Foxes Corner that doubled as a gambling establishment, exposing Stu to gambling at a young age. Despite Ido's attempts to keep his son from gambling after seeing its effects on his regular customers, Stu began playing underground gin rummy and quickly made
8316-569: Was consequently so exhausted from travel and court proceedings that he was not able to successfully defend his WSOP main event title. In 1997, a nearly-broke Ungar convinced the management at the Lady Luck Hotel & Casino to let him play single-deck blackjack. Since Ungar was a known card counter, the casino managers agreed on the condition that his betting would have a high and a low limit (a limited spread), which they presumed would render useless Ungar's card counting ability. However, in
8415-647: Was described by a fellow professional poker player during the 1997 World Series of Poker as having a "clairvoyant" ability to see his opponents' hole cards. Several of Ungar's financial backers have commented that he could have earned an immeasurable amount more over his career had he been more of a "hustler", giving his opponents the false belief they could beat him and thus be willing to risk more money trying. However, Ungar wanted to beat his opponents as soundly as possible, and he often insulted those whose skills he felt were inferior to his own. In his biography, Ungar also noted several opponents who offered to pay him to lose
8514-424: Was going to call the police and have Ungar arrested for attempting to bribe a public official before his fellow poker players stepped in and smoothed things over. At one point Ungar was being staked by Las Vegas mob enforcer Anthony "The Ant" Spilotro , and showed up at Spilotro's house after having been gone for two days (he was supposed to check in to report his take every day) with a gun in his waistband. Through
8613-649: Was his first attempt at a western and his first novel set in the Southwestern United States , a change from the Appalachian settings of his earlier work. In 1974, McCarthy moved from his native Tennessee to El Paso, Texas , to immerse himself in the culture and geography of the American Southwest. He taught himself Spanish , which many of the characters of Blood Meridian speak. McCarthy conducted considerable research to write
8712-416: Was no reason to "blot the page up with weird little marks". The New York Times described McCarthy's prose in Blood Meridian as " Faulknerian ". Describing events of extreme violence, McCarthy's prose is sparse yet expansive, with an often biblical quality and frequent religious references. Blood Meridian initially received little recognition, but has since been recognized as a masterpiece and one of
8811-489: Was once at an airport attempting to fly out of the United States to Europe for a poker tournament with several fellow pros. All of his friends had passports, but he did not. He did not even have a Social Security number until after his 1980 WSOP win and that was only because he was forced to obtain one in order to collect his winnings. Upon telling the airport customs agent he needed the passport immediately to leave
8910-423: Was one of the most generous people they had ever met. He was known to always be willing to help out a friend. When he was on a hot winning streak, he sent his longtime sports betting friend Michael "Baseball Mike" Salem enough money to pay for several months of his mortgage. Salem had not asked for money and had only mentioned offhand to Ungar he was in the midst of a nasty losing streak. Ungar's own attorney recalled
9009-513: Was over to be paid out more), something he vehemently denied. The fine for this offense was $ 500; however, paying it would have also forced Ungar to admit that he had cheated. Ungar believed that his memory and card counting ability were natural skills and thus he did not need to cap bets or partake in any form of cheating. Ungar fought the case in court and won, avoiding the $ 500 fine. The court battle, though, cost him an estimated $ 50,000 in legal and travel expenses. In his biography, Ungar claimed he
9108-436: Was regarded as one of the best card players of his time. He had the ability to recite the spelling and definition of all of the words in the dictionary and apparently shared a penchant and interest for calculating odds while gambling as Ungar did. By many accounts, the two developed a very close relationship, with Romano serving as a mentor and protector. Ungar was infamous for his arrogance and for routinely criticizing aloud
9207-413: Was reported later that day that the project dissolved due to issues with the film rights. In 2023, Deadline reported that New Regency is adapting Blood Meridian as a feature film. John Hillcoat , who previously directed an adaptation of McCarthy's novel The Road , is set to direct. Alongside his son John Francis, McCarthy was set to serve as an executive producer on the film; he will retain
9306-403: Was simply everything that is , with the exception of bits of spirit imprisoned here. And what they saw is what we see in the world of Blood Meridian ." However, Barcley Owens argues that while there are undoubtedly Gnostic qualities to the novel, Daugherty's arguments are "ultimately unsuccessful," because Daugherty fails to adequately address the pervasive violence and because he overstates
9405-499: Was so highly regarded at this point that local bookies made him the favorite to win the tournament over the entire field, an extreme rarity. Ungar went on to win the Main Event, joining Johnny Moss as the only three-time winners. After his victory, which was taped for broadcast by ESPN, Ungar was interviewed by Gabe Kaplan , and he showed the picture of his daughter to the camera and dedicated his win to her. He and Baxter split
9504-445: Was the last person added to the roster, mere seconds before the signup closed. Ungar was exhausted on the tournament's first day as he had been up for over 24 hours straight trying to raise or borrow enough money to play in the event. At one point midway through the first day of play, Ungar began to fall asleep at his table and told Mike Sexton (who was also playing) he didn't think he could make it. After encouragement from Sexton and
9603-557: Was the result of a heart condition brought on by years of drug abuse. Despite having won an estimated $ 30 million during his poker career, Ungar died with no assets to his name. Stupak took up a collection at Ungar's funeral to raise funds to pay for the services. Ungar is interred at Palm Valley View Memorial Park in East Las Vegas. Ungar was noted for his ultra-aggressive playing style and well-timed bluffs. Mike Sexton said that Ungar's chips were constantly in motion, and he
9702-501: Was when they got there. Sexton noted that because Ungar would pay for everyone in his dining party, regardless of how expensive the meal was, it was impossible to argue with his method. He would race in to the restaurant, shovel the food down as fast as he could, throw cash for the entire meal plus a generous tip on the table and be ready to leave, even if the rest of his party had just barely started on drinks or appetizers. The same friends however also noted that Ungar, when he had money,
9801-408: Was winning. Mike Sexton once noted that "Stuey spent what most people make in a year on cab fares." Ungar's friends often said he "ate like a wild animal." Ungar saw eating as something that had to be gotten over with so he could get back to gambling action. He would often call restaurants ahead of time and place an order for himself and everyone in his party so it was ready at the same time his table
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