An outrageous tale of fast cash, dirty politics, and extravagant greed in the Bayou State. Louisiana is our most exotic state. It is religious and roguish, a place populated by Cajuns, Creoles, rednecks, and Bible-thumpers. It is a state that loves good food, good music, and good times. Laissez les bon temps rouler -- let the good times roll -- is the unofficial motto. Louisiana is also excessively corrupt.In the 1990s, it plunged headlong into legalized gambling, authorizing more games of chance than any other state. Leading the charge was Governor Edwin Edwards, who for years had flaunted his fondness for cold cash and high-stakes gambling, and who had used his razor-sharp mind and catlike reflexes to stay one step ahead of the law. Gambling, Edwin Edwards, and Louisiana's political culture would prove to be a combustible mix. Bad Bet on the Bayou tells the story of what happened when the most corrupt industry came to our most corrupt state. It is a sweeping morality tale about commerce, politics, and what happens when the law catches up to the most basic human desires and frailties. As an old Kentucky refrain goes, "In Kentucky politics are the damnedest." In analyzing political machinations and serious misuse of the public trust, especially by flamboyant Gov. Edwin Edward of Louisiana, Bridges, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Miami Herald reporter who covered Louisiana politics for the New Orleans Times-Picayune in the early 1990s, makes Kentucky politics seem tame. After discussing Louisiana's often sordid but always entertaining political history, the author devotes the remainder of the monograph to telling what happened when the state legalized gambling in the 1990s under Governor Edwards. Using primarily oral interviews with many of the participants, including Edwards himself, and files from the Times-Picayune, Bridges focuses on the key role fourth-term Governor Edwards played in bringing gambling to Louisiana. As an Edwards critic observed, "[H]e had a tragic character flaw; he thinks of politics as a way to make money for himself and his friends rather than public service. The flaw finally brought him to his knees." While critical of Louisiana's failed gambling experiment, Bridges's narrative is an excellent example of detailed investigative reporting that reads like a mystery novel. Recommended for public libraries. Charles C. Hay III, Eastern Kentucky Univ. Lib., Richmond Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. There may never be a Louisiana politician to equal Huey Long, but if there were, his name might be Edwin Edwards. (Remember the "Vote for the Crook" bumper stickers from the final days of Edwards' 1991 runoff battle against David Duke.) Between 1971 and 1996, Edwards spent 16 years in the governor's mansion, "flaunt(ing) his fondness for easy cash, pretty women, and high-stakes gambling as he dominated Louisiana politics." Prize-winning Miami Herald reporter Bridges covered Edwards' final term for the New Orleans Times-Picayune , and then he followed the federal investigation and 28-count indictment that, in May 2000, produced a conviction of the former governor on 17 counts of conspiracy to extort money from riverboat gambling interests. (The verdict is being appealed.) Gambling--an industry with an ugly history in Louisiana since the nineteenth century--is at the heart of this story, and Bridges thoroughly documents the process by which "legalized gambling has needed less than a decade to supplant the petrochemical industry as the state's most powerful interest group." Mary Carroll Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved ". . . a riveting saga of political corruption run amok when it interferes with the shadowy world of casino gambling." -- Douglas Brinkley, Director of the Eisenhower Center and Professor of History at the University of New Orleans ". . . shows just how many shenanigans went on in the birth and growth of gambling in Louisiana . . ." -- Rick Bragg, author of All Over but the Shoutin' "Bridges writes with command and ease about this byzantine and squalid enterprise Highly entertaining" -- Kirkus Reviews "Engrossing Bridges traces the web of special interests exceptionally well [weaving] them into a narrative that is both sobering and compelling. -- The Times-Picayune, May 7, 2001 "Impeccably reported and often hilarious." -- The Economist A riveting saga of political corruption...No investigative reporter has a shrewder grasp of Louisiana politics than Tyler Bridges. -- Douglas Brinkley, Director of the Eisenhower Center and Professor of History at the University of New Orleans Fascinating and fluid Bridges does a formidable job...His easy flair is supported by high journalistic standards...an irresistible read. -- Publishers Weekly, May 7, 2001 Lively...fascinating...The larger-than-life, appalling, charming figure at its center is as unforgettable as the protagonist out of any great novel. -- Carmela Ciuraru, Th