When he saw that I'd earmarked this book as one I'd like to read, my friend John offered to lend me his copy. It turned out, however, that he only owns a different book by the same author. That book, Busting Vegas, is the inside story of five MIT students who took Vegas for millions (although the long-winded official subtitle for that one bills it as "A True Story of Monumental Excess, Sex, Love, Violence, and Beating the Odds.").

My interest in the subject (blackjack) and author was initially piqued by viewing the movie 21 a couple weeks ago. 21 is a supposedly true story based on Bringing Down the House, and I enjoyed the film. It had its weaknesses, such as Jill's underdeveloped character (who for unexplained reasons seemed motivated to join the blackjack team in pursuit of something other than wealth and looked down on those who claimed they planned to stick around just long enough to reach a specific financial goal), but was vicariously thrilling and entertaining overall.

I will stick with Busting Vegas to the end, because I am a stubborn reader who can appreciate a good story even when it's rendered poorly, but I've lost interest in reading anything else by Ben Mezrich. I'm unimpressed by his style, which relies on short, blunt sentences and fragments, overblown generalizations, and too much time spent inside the main character's head for me to believe this is a true story rather than a fictional account loosely based on actual events. I consider Mezrich an arrogant, lucky, semi-literate hack who likes rubbing shoulders with brilliant (i.e., bright enough to bolster his own self-labeled "geek chic" image by association) societal misfits and has stretched one book's worth of research into two forgettable, indistinguishable books.

I listened to an audio version and was so engrossed in the story that I finished all but the last CD in one day. It was so interested to read and I am still trying to figure out how they did it. Guess that is why I am not an MIT graduate. This book certainly claims the truth the money can change you. I guess there is also a movie. I plan to watch it soon.

Originally, I found this book to read during the summer on my mom's bookshelf, but I put it off until September. When I started reading, I was immediately hooked. This book is about Kevin Lewis, an MIT student who is brought on to the blackjack team by his roommates. The team is led by a man named Micky Rosa who also funds the team. Over time, the team clashes, and the casinos catching on to card counting led to the end of the MIT blackjack team.

In the beginning, I was excited to see where Kevin would play into the team and how he could change it. At first, I expected him to struggle a little bit with card counting, but he made it right to the top very quickly. I think it would've been better if we saw him evolve a little bit more. The story became a little less favorable when the team generally became very money hungry. It was a lot more interesting before there became all of the team drama and splitting up.

In this book, I really enjoyed the plot. It was a fascinating story to read and I liked it a lot. Before I read this book, I knew nothing about card counting, let alone the fact that MIT had an underground team for it. I really liked how the author was so descriptive and detailed in his descriptions of the story as a whole. Some scenes that really interested me were the scenes after the Mike Tyson fight and when the team had to hire dancers to exchange their chips for them. Overall, the energy of this book was always sky high and I never wanted to put it down.

One thing that could've been better about this book was that it was lacking a personal level. I felt very distanced from the characters. I never grew attached to any of them or felt like I knew them like in most other books I've read. I only knew who they were and what they did, not much more than that. I think having that extra bit would've made the book much better. It was too focused on the story rather than the balance between that and the characters in it.

I started reading Ben Mezrich only recently, having picked up The Accidental Billionaires. Bringing Down the House is one of his earlier works and definitely one of the best. It was made into the movie 21, which you can avoid. The story is about MIT students forming a team and going to Vegas casinos to make money by counting cards. The fact that Bringing Down the House is based on actual events makes it all the more interesting to read. Mezrich has several such books based on real-life, larger-than-life occurrences, and I can’t wait to check out the next one.

Before I really get into my review, I noticed the division in a few reviews below about regarding the authenticity of the book's contents. Some say the plot is based on real people while others claim that every aspect of it is a work of fiction. The only thing I have to say about that is this: I can understand the disappointment of discovering the true nature of a book whose plot you were fooled into believing was real, but Ben Mezrich's Bringing Down the House is a great novel regardless of its accuracy. If you are considering reading this book but are a little hesitant due to this debate, I suggest you read it for the story itself and decide when you are finished.
Now as for the actual novel, Bringing Down the House tells the story of MIT student Kevin Lewis from the author's point of view. Kevin is about to enter enter his final year of college when he curiously becomes involved with his roommates' money-making scheme: card-counting. A bright boy himself who was looking for a little more excitement in life, Kevin joins his roommates and a group of other MIT students in a blackjack club, making frequent trips to casinos around the United States, particularly Las Vegas. However, as Kevin hones his card-counting abilities, he begins to develop a kind of double life, leading him to multiple occasions where he must choose between the people he loves and the life he wants to live. I do not plan on giving away any spoilers for those who have not read it yet, but I will say that he does not always make the "correct" decision.
The first thing I want to discuss here is the author's writing style. As mentioned before, Bringing Down the House is written with Mezrich as the novel's narrator, but that is not the structure's only noteworthy characteristic. This particular novel is told in sets of flashbacks. Now I know this can be a major turn-off for some readers, but hear me out for a minute. I am a big fan of superhero movies and television shows, a few of my current favorites being Arrow, The Flash, and Daredevil. Any fellow fan of these can attest that they rely heavily on flashbacks, but they do so in order for the viewer to really understand where the characters are coming from and why they do the things they do. This is the same thing Mezrich is wanting to accomplish, but he does it with a sort of twist. Instead of telling the story mainly in present time with intermittent flashbacks, the plot is mainly told in the flashbacks with a few instances of current happenings. Since Kevin's story takes place in the late 90s, this was necessary for him to properly convey it to his readers.
Something else I really enjoyed about this novel was Mezrich's choice of diction. When one thinks of MIT, in the same way that one would consider Harvard or Princeton, one normally characterizes its student body as being prim and proper. However, this is not how Kevin and his friends are depicted in the slightest. Between the profane slang they use and the promiscuous activities they participate in while visiting Vegas, they are presented not as hoity-toity snobs, but as guys. Girls, alcohol, and money are huge motivators in this novel, not something uncommon for the general male population, especially college students. Doing this makes Kevin and the others more relatable, allowing the reader to feel more involved with the plot's development and overall outcome. I can personally say that I was engrossed in the novel after the first couple of chapters and when I was finished, I had a sort of "reader's hangover" where it took me a little bit to adjust back to the real world. A fair warning, if you decide to read it, you will most likely experience the same feeling.
Finally, the topic of the book itself is also quite interesting. The end of the 90s was a technology boom where those seeking high returns for their effort quickly got involved. Kevin, on the other hand, did not want this life. Sure, he wanted the luxuries and lifestyle that came with wealth, but he also wanted something a little more dangerous: difference. Ultimately, he sought to be different from those around him while still cashing out on as little work as he could possible put in. Everybody likes to think that there exists a way to be rich with little effort and this dream is what draws readers to this novel. The late 90s was also the prime time to overcome casinos' systems since it was right before the introduction of high-tech security cameras. Kevin had the brains, the drive, and the time period on his side and he took full advantage of them all.
In closing, I strongly encourage everyone to read this book, but NOT if you are expecting it to be like its movie adaptation. I have seen 21 multiple times - before I read its printed predecessor, in fact - and there are some major differences that make them almost completely separate works. Really, the only similarities between them are the general overview and Mickey Rosa, the rest being molded into a faster-paced show for the big screen. Do not get me wrong, I love Kevin Spacey's and Jim Sturgess' embodiment of the novel, but in the end, it cannot hold a candle next to the original.

Great subway book. A little dated in references and language but an interesting story well told.

3.5* I had to read this book for AP Stat, and I was thoroughly surprised. The pacing is slow, but I was so intrigued the entire time. Learning about the unethical card counting method for blackjack was so fascinating to read about. I also loved the vibe from the book. I felt like I was in a busy casino with high risks around me. I wouldn't necessarily go out and buying this if I wasn't required to, but it was interesting nonetheless.

blackjack and stock trading have similar principles.
Get in on a winning hand
Get out on a bad hand like consolidation or when stocks go opposite your trades.
Double down on your good hands and minimize your minimum bets on bad hands.

After learning that a business associate and expert witness was one of the actual gambling team from MIT that inspired this book and the movie 21, I was eager to read the inside account. Turns out, as others have pointed out, the story has been fictionalized and embellished. My colleague appears nowhere in the book (unless he was one of the three "nameless Asians" that Ben Mezrich dismisses in a sentence). Fair enough, the author wants a sexier story than a group of Asian statisticians might offer. But if you're going to go for glitz and danger, then go all the way and give us Casino Royale. Instead, we get the worst of both worlds: all the verisimilitude of a late night movie on the USA network, all the excitement and intrigue of a worn copy of Hoyle's Rules of Gaming.

The true story of a group of MIT students who developed a system to beat casinos at Blackjack – and made millions before the pit bosses caught on. A good read and a fascinating story – also some good insight into the illusion vs reality of Vegas.

challenge: go to wikipedia. type in the title of this book. go to the book's wiki page. scroll until you hit "controversy" section.

as an enjoyer of non-fiction, seeing this kind of shook me. i know it's common for authors to embellish but this was a little ridiculous at times.

also what's with how the author talks about asian characters? i wish i had the quotes on hand but every so often he described a character's ethnicity or race in a way that made me, frankly, raise a brow.

i also found this book to be deeply confusing at times, the book wrongly assumes that if you're reading it, you already know how blackjack & how card counting works. i get blackjack, but not in a casino setting, nor do i have any understanding of card counting methods. this book did not help me understand card counting any better.

all in all, i get why people like this book. however, it certainly wasn't for me. i found it boring, dense, and seldom exciting. that being said, i think the author is talented, but perhaps this just isn't mezrich's best work.

The novel, “Bringing Down the House”, by Ben Mezrich, is a very well written piece of work that was based on a true story. The fact that it’s based on a true story, seems to make the novel that much more compelling in the wondering of what’s going to happen next. I know that many people have given this book poor reviews because the novel tried to make us feel bad for Kevin after the bad things that happen. They try to say that even after his downfall he still gets to go back to Harvard and live a guaranteed successful life. To me, it doesn’t matter that Kevin was already at MIT and living a great life before he started his double life. The novel was well written and gave a great story, and that what this book should be judged by. Not the MIT students in real life and how you don’t like them.
I feel that the novel is written at pace that gives the reader time to cool off after a thrilling scene. Mezrich does a great job creating high points and ensuring to balance out those high points with several low points throughout. After the current day events in the novel with the main character, Kevin, Mezrich masterfully transitions to previous events in Kevin’s past. This is a great way to get a thorough background on Kevin, as well as taking us away from his action packed, current day, casino life. Mezrich gives us insight on not just Kevin through the showing of his thoughts, but other characters as well. This gives them all a much deeper importance in the novel as I felt a personal connection to just about every character. Other things that the author does well, is create several noticeable themes throughout the novel. The biggest being greed. Mezrich does a great job displaying these different themes through the character’s actions, as well as some of the events that play out.
tOverall, the book is extremely well written with a variety of different twists and turns that sometimes ends up causing something to happen that was very unexpected. Having the suspense and thrill by having the character’s feelings shown to us really gave me a great sense of peril during some points in the novel. I could practically feel that I was in the casinos with Kevin at certain moments. With the showing of every one of Kevin's thoughts running through his head at every rough moment. That shows what great writing Mezrich accomplished in this book.