Josh Axelrad is the author of the memoir Repeat Until Rich, published by Penguin Press in 2010. For five years he earned his living counting cards as a professional blackjack player. He spent nearly as long writing about the experience. His efforts at depicting the peculiar agony of the gambling life in credibly visceral terms were lauded by Dwight Garner of The New York Times, who dubbed Axelrad “a real writer—a muscular, cynical and observant one.” Charles McGrath, also of the Times, called Repeat Until Rich “dark, funny, at times painfully honest,” while The Times of London praised it as an “excellent, tersely written memoir.” (At least one guy on Amazon hated it.)

Josh was barred at over 100 casinos in 15 states (and reminded of the fact via Twitter). He no longer gambles. His writing has appeared in The Huffington Post, The Guardian Online,  I.D. Magazine and elsewhere. A regular at The Moth in New York, Josh has been a featured performer on the award-winning Moth Podcast and has appeared on Bloomberg Television, National Public Radio, Sirius Radio, and BBC Radio 4, as well as on local programs across the US, the UK, and the Republic of Ireland.

He was born in Southern California and went to college in New York City, where he spent 18 years. He lives in Russell, Kansas at the moment.

 

SELECTED PRESS

• Review, The New York Times
• Review, Connecticut News
• Review, The Irish Times
• Review, Arnold Snyder
• Review, The Plain Dealer
• Review, Bloomberg

• Feature, The Times of London
• Feature, The New York Times

• Interview, Cooleh Magazine
• Interview, SMITH Magazine
• Interview, Minnesota Public Radio
• Interview, Marketplace (NPR)
• Interview, The Leonard Lopate Show (WNYC)
• Interview, State of Nevada (KNPR)
• Interview, Midweek (BBC Radio 4)

• Additional media here

 

BLURBS

“A literate and swaggering heist caper of the sort that Jonathan Lethem and Quentin Tarantino might fry up together from an old Elmore Leonard recipe… Mr. Axelrad’s book stands out from earlier ones because he’s a real writer — a muscular, cynical and observant one.”
–Dwight Garner, The New York Times

“This is a beautifully written memoir… one of the all-time great real-life adventure stories in print… [T]old with disarming honesty, at times sarcastic, at times cynical, but always truthful… No one has ever told the story of the professional card counter quite like this. For all its craziness, meaningless greed, and wasted energy, it’s strangely exhilarating. If he continues to gamble with his words, instead of with his wallet, Josh Axelrad will continue to beat the odds.”
–Arnold Snyder, author of Blackbelt in Blackjack

“‘Repeat Until Rich’ is a phantasmically told first-person account… Unlikely triumph becomes unforeseeable tragedy in fewer than 300 pages. It’s a dark, yet amusing, tale of personal doom.”
–The Plain Dealer

“This brilliantly written, exciting – sometimes terrifying – memoir is superb.”
–The Sun (UK)

“[Written] with wit and more than a dash of psychological horror… one of the best tales of addiction—and the gambling world—that I’ve ever read.”
–Joe Meyers, Connecticut News

“Dark, funny, at times painfully honest.”
–Charles McGrath, The New York Times

“Told with candour and a certain amount of swagger, ['Repeat Until Rich'] is fascinating.”
–The Big Issue (Scotland)

“In this fascinating memoir Josh reveals the seedy glamour of the adrenaline-fueled gambling world.”
–The Daily Express (UK)

“Sweet and brutal… It’s well written, brutally honest, and a great read.”
–Bryce Carlson, author of Blackjack for Blood

“‘Repeat Until Rich’ starts as an easy jaunt, a picaresque journey through casino America, as Axelrad and his colleagues outfox all the dealers and floormen and pit bosses who stand in the way of their wild winning spree. The story is so absorbing and funny that at first you won’t even notice you’re being sucked into hell.”
–George Dawes Green, author of Ravens

“A real-life Elmore Leonard caper.”
–Booklist

“A killer story, compellingly told.”
–Sara Barron, author of People Are Unappealing

 

CONTACT

Josh is at josh [at] axelrad.net

For US/Canadian publicity for Repeat Until Rich, please contact Liz Calamari at Elisabeth.Calamari [at] us.penguingroup.com or Stella Connell at stella [at] theconnellagency.com.

For UK publicity, please contact Jenny Rowley at jrowley [at] eburypublishing.co.uk.

For Australian publicity, please contact Emma Caddy at ecaddy [at] randomhouse.com.au.

For other matters contact his agent, Daniel Greenberg, at dgreenberg [at] levinegreenberg.com.