The Gambler: How Penniless Dropout Kirk Kerkorian Became the Greatest Deal Maker in Capitalist History

Investigative reporter Rempel (At the Devil’s Table) delivers a solid biography of billionaire Kirk Kerkorian. After Kerkorian’s death at the age of 98 in 2015, Rempel faced a wall of silence from Kerkorian’s family, friends, and associates. Using the sources available to him, including a very public paternity suit when Kerkorian was in his 80s, Rempel reveals Kerkorian as a man with the nerves of steel needed to build business empires in transportation, gambling, and film. During WWII Kerkorian was employed by the British air force to fly new American-built warplanes across the Atlantic. After the war, Kerkorian created a cargo-flight business by purchasing surplus aircraft. An enthusiastic gambler, Kerkorian entered the high-risk field of Las Vegas real estate, eventually owning many of the city’s best-known hotels and casinos. The chapters on Las Vegas stand out, both for Rempel’s telling of the tale and for the fascinating stratagems Kerkorian used against rivals, among them Howard Hughes. Although Kerkorian’s private life—his multiple marriages and many romances, his need for anonymity, and his demanding personality—receives short shrift due to the author’s limited sources, this is still an engrossing story of a self-made man. Agent: David P. Halpern, Robbins Office. (Jan.)