Ben Mezrich

Ben Mezrich (born 1969) is an American author from Boston, Massachusetts, who started out writing fiction but later expanded into non-fiction. He graduated magna-cum-laude from Harvard in 1991. He has since published ten books which have together sold over three million copies in twenty different languages. Some of his books have been written under the pseudonym Holden Scott. Mezrich attended Princeton Day School, in Princeton, New Jersey.

Written work

Mezrich is best known for his first non-fiction work, "" (ISBN 0-7432-4999-2). This book tells the story of a group of students from MIT who bet on blackjack games using a sophisticated card counting system, earning millions of dollars at casinos in Las Vegas and other gambling centers in the United States and the Caribbean. [cite news | first=Gary | last=Rivlin | coauthors= | title=A Strategy Up Their Sleeves | date=2007-12-30 | publisher= | url =http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/30/fashion/30blackjack.html | work =The New York Times | pages = | accessdate = 2008-01-25 | language = ] The story was made into the movie "21", released in 2008. [cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=MIT Blackjack Movie Set for Release | date= | publisher= | url =http://www.onlinecasinonews.com/ocnv2_1/article/article.asp?id=15819 | work =Online Casino News | pages = | accessdate = 2008-01-25 | language = ] After the book's publication, Mezrich was frequently interviewed, asked to speak in a number of forums [cite news | first=Ryan | last=Ko | coauthors= | title=Group Hosts Gambling Lecture‘Bringing Down the House’ Author Is One of Three Speakers at Forum | date=2007-10-19 | publisher= | url =http://www-tech.mit.edu/V127/N47/gambling.html | work =The Tech | pages = | accessdate = 2008-01-25 | language = ] , and was published in the Boston Globe. The Globe later debunked much of the reporting in Bringing Down the House, claiming that the book describes numerous events that never took place, and "is not a work of nonfiction in any meaningful sense of the word." [ [http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/04/06/house_of_cards/ The Boston Globe: House of Cards. Retrieved April 10, 2008.] ]

In 2004, Mezrich published a new book called "" (ISBN 0-06-057500-X). Also a nonfiction work, this book recounts the exploits of an American named John Malcolm, who was an assistant securities trader. [cite news | first=Gina | last=Bellafante | coauthors= | title=What Do Men Really Want (To Read About)? | date=2004-05-23 | publisher= | url =http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/fashion/23MEZR.html?position=&ei=5007&en=0a80b7723f635439&ex=1400644800&partner=USERLAND&pagewanted=all&position= | work =The New York Times | pages = | accessdate = 2008-01-25 | language = ]

In 2005 Mezrich published "" a semi-sequel to "Bringing Down the House". The book tells the story of another student involved in a similar Blackjack team, but one that used more advanced techniques than the ones discussed in the first book.

In 2007, Mezrich published "Rigged" which recounts the formation of the Dubai Mercantile Exchange by two young visionaries, one in the New York Mercantile Exchange and the other in the Dubai Ministry of Finance.

In 2008, Boston magazine and The Boston Globe investigated the accuracy of Mezrich's non-fiction, identifying occasions in his blackjack books where scenes were invented out of whole cloth. [ [http://www.bostonmagazine.com/articles/ben_mezrich_based_on_a_true_story/page1 Boston Magazine: Ben Mezrich, Based on a True Story. Retrieved April 10, 2008.] ] [ [http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/04/06/house_of_cards/ The Boston Globe: House of Cards. Retrieved April 10, 2008.] ]

Fiction

*"Threshold" (1996, ISBN 0446605212)
*"Reaper" (1998, ISBN 0060187514)
*"Fertile Ground" (1999, ISBN 0061097985)
*"Skin" (a story set as an "X-Files" episode), (2000, ISBN 0061056448)
*"Skeptic" (written under the pen name Holden Scott), (2000, ISBN 0312969287)
*"The Carrier" (written under the pen name Holden Scott), (2001, ISBN 0312978588)
*"Rigged : The True Story of an Ivy League Kid Who Changed the World of Oil, From Wall Street to Dubai" (2007) [cite news | first=Chuck | last=Leddy | coauthors= | title=In 'Rigged', Mezrich Ups the Ante on Wall Street | date=2007-12-27 | publisher= | url =http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2007/12/27/in_rigged_mezrich_ups_the_ante_on_wall_street/ | work =The Boston Globe | pages = | accessdate = 2008-01-25 | language = ]

Non-fiction

*"Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions" (2002)
*"Ugly Americans: The True Story of the Ivy League Cowboys Who Raided the Asian Markets for Millions" (2004)
*"Breaking Vegas: The MIT Whiz Kid Who Brought the Casinos to Their Knees" (2005, ISBN 0060575123)

Other projects

Mezrich is the co-host of season 3 of the GSN series The World Series of Blackjack and the World Blackjack Tour. He also represented Massachusetts as a contestant in the Sexiest Bachelor in America Pageant on Fox in 2000. [ cite web|url=http://tv.yahoo.com/the-sexiest-bachelor-in-america/show/22483/castcrew |title=The Sexiest Bachelor in America |accessdate=2008-01-25 ] "Fatal Error" is a TBS premiere movie adaptation of his second book, "Reaper," starring Antonio Sabato, Jr. and Robert Wagner. "Skin" was originally written as an "X-Files" episode.

References

External links

* [http://www.benmezrich.com/ Ben Mezrich - the official site]
* [http://www.gsn.com/specific_page_elements.php?link_id=S95 World Blackjack Tour on GSN]