# Looking for a book I read in the Eighties

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-book-i-read-in-the-eighties/917931>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [August 12, 2020, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-book-i-read-in-the-eighties/917931 "2020-08-12T22:11:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2020, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-book-i-read-in-the-eighties/917931/1 "2020-08-12T22:11:58Z")

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I remember a book I read and liked back in my days working as a library page as a teenager. I’d like to read it again, but it must be long out of print because I can’t find it on Amazon, Abebooks, EBay, or Google. I’d think I was misremembering it, except I’m certain I’m not.

The title was “The Mechanic.” I don’t know the author, but it was the story of a young man who rose through the ranks of organized crime in Cuban casinos during the Batista era, using his superior card-manipulation skills. I don’t remember anything else about the plot.

I would have read it probably in the early Eighties, and I don’t think it was new then. Anybody remember it?

BTW, it has nothing to do with the Charles Bronson movie of the same name. In the book, a “mechanic” is a master sleight-of-hand artist, not an assassin.

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**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2020, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-book-i-read-in-the-eighties/917931/2 "2020-08-12T22:18:22Z")

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Could be _The Master Mechanic_, by I.G. Broat.

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**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2020, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-book-i-read-in-the-eighties/917931/3 "2020-08-12T22:19:30Z")

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Biography, autobiography or fiction?

Estimate of year you first read it?

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**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2020, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-book-i-read-in-the-eighties/917931/4 "2020-08-12T22:21:20Z")

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Yes! That’s it!

Thank you, **The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper**! I could have sworn “The Mechanic” was the title, but when I looked at the summary for this one, it’s exactly what I remember.

Wow, that was fast! The Dope comes through again. 😃

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**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2020, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-book-i-read-in-the-eighties/917931/5 "2020-08-12T23:51:30Z")

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> [@Infovore](#):
>
> In the book, a “mechanic” is a master sleight-of-hand artist, not an assassin.

Mechanic is sometimes used to describe a pickpocket. Same origin, I’m sure.

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**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-book-i-read-in-the-eighties/917931/6 "2020-08-13T00:01:22Z")

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You might be interested in Richard Turner, a **blind** card mechanic.

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/aSGuWbtLcD4/maxresdefault.jpg "Dealt: Documentary Film Stars Blind Card Mechanic Richard Turner") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSGuWbtLcD4)

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/TwFIJyWKs1k/maxresdefault.jpg "Fool Us - Richard Turner Thoroughly Astonishes Penn & Teller") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwFIJyWKs1k)