Book · 2005 · Lucan, richard john bingham, earl of, 1934-
The Gamblers
Why people recommend it
The Gamblers by John Pearson is a biographical and historical work exploring figures such as the eccentric gambler John Aspinall. On Behind the Bastards, Robert Evans discussed the 2007 book across multiple episodes to illustrate Aspinall's unusual life, obsessions, and social circles. Evans cited Pearson's account to explain how Aspinall closely identified with gorillas, observing dominant silverback behaviors to form his own unconventional views on human family structures and gender dynamics. He read excerpts detailing bizarre anecdotes from Aspinall's life, including an instance where an infant child was presented to a gorilla mother, as well as descriptions of the violent attack carried out by Lord Lucan against his wife. Furthermore, Evans used Pearson's work to provide broader historical context regarding the rapid wealth accumulation and shifting class mobility in England during the prosperous twentieth-century decade. Throughout the podcast segments, Evans treated the book as a key source for understanding the eccentricities of high-stakes gamblers and the bizarre subcultures surrounding them in modern British history.
Who recommended it
- Robert Evans Discussed
Robert Evans — 6 mentions
“having identified so closely with his gorillas he started to imitate their habits and showed a marked preference for the rules governing the world of animals to that of human beings from watching how the dominant old silverback gorilla ruled the females in his Entourage he concluded that the idea of women's rights and women's Liberation was not only ridiculous”
“the gorilla peed inside its nappy to see what sex it was with the baby tucked under her arm swung up into the trees and showed him to the other females in the community when all the female gorillas had thoroughly examined the baby basa his gorilla mother brought him down to earth and returned him safely to his human”
“when he heard Veronica that's the lady Lucan coming down the stairs from the sitting room to find out what was going on he started attacking her as well hitting her around the head as he had Sandra rivet somehow she managed to slide down between his legs and grab his balls the agonizing pain made him stop”
“the other biography I read about him is a 2007 book called The Gamblers by John Pearson”
“aspadol never said what took him to Mr Palmer's Pet Shop in North London in early 1957 still less what made him buy a small cachin monkey”
“in the gamblers Pearson writes quote more and more people were becoming vastly richer in that prosperous decade”