Fiction. With a literary style reminiscent of Mark Twain, this historical novel captures the colorful riverboat culture of 1850s Ohio. THE GAMBLER'S NEPHEW presents a world of abolitionist passion, murder, and old-fashioned cussedness, a world of steamboats plying the Ohio River, and a world with people troubled by such grand irrelevancies as love. Here is a world as richly confused as our own—and as alive as living can get.

Author City: ATHENS, OH USA

The author of more than twenty books, Jack Matthews grew up in Columbus, Ohio, and served briefly in the U.S. Coast Guard during WWII. He graduated in 1949 from Ohio State University with degrees in English Literature & Classical Greek. He married Barbara Reese in 1947. To support his young and growing family, he worked at a variety of jobs, including 9 years as a post office clerk, during which time he began to publish short stories and eventually, in 1959, began to teach at Urbana (Ohio) College. n 1964, they moved to Athens, where Matthews joined the English Department at Ohio University. They still live in the country near Athens. He and Barbara have three grown children, seven grown grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren, with another on the way. During Spring 2010, he taught one course on his second post-retirement contract, collecting old and rare books, and, of course, writing. Matthews takes great pleasure in despising the current generation, which he calls "an indulgence which has forever been the prerogative of old geezers." He continues, "I also enjoy contemplating the Dumbing of America. Do you suppose we deserve it? Possibly; we're a woefully imperfect species—which fact provides limitless material for a writer."

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