All In

Book Review:
All In, by Jerry Yang
2011, Medallion Press

If there is one adjective that makes me not want to read a book, it is "inspirational". I do not seek out stories of an individual overcoming incredible odds to succeed as way of motivating myself. Not that I have anything against such books, but they are just not my thing.

So I picked up the advance edition of 2007 World Series of Poker Champion Jerry Yang's biography looking forward to reading about his poker experience and was surprised to find myself engrossed in his tale of growing up in Laos during the Vietnam war. I had no idea of how the conflict played out in the countries surrounding Vietnam, and was fascinated by Yang's first hand account of how the North Vietnamese Army and Pathet Lao virtually wiped out his people - the hill dwelling Hmong. Although still a child at the time, Yang gives an impressively detailed account of growing up in the mountainous northern region of Laos, as well as the harrowing journey to Thailand when the communist forces over-ran his homeland. Until reading All In I had no real understanding of the refugee experience, but Yang did a splendid job in making his past come alive - partially because he very rarely over sentimentalized the experience.

In the end I was far more interested in what happened to twelve-year-old Yang Xao in Laos than the forty-something Jerry Yang in Las Vegas. The book instructs the read on what is truly important. We grant fame and fortune to someone who wins a card game, but the important things we do in our lives are not done for money or adoration.