Books on Pool / Billiards what is your favorite

The King

The King

Here's Jimbo....
Silver Member
Hello ...

Just looking to see what you AZ'ers think ...There is a copy of John Grisham's book Billiards for sale in the for sale section of the forum and it got me to looking at what all books were wrote about our beloved game ... There are so many ... What are some of your favorites that you have been fortunate enough to read??? And would recommend to anyone that just loves the game?
 
My favorite book is "The Science of Pocket Billiards" by Jack H. Koehler. I'm reading it now. Great book!
 
The 99 Critical Shots In Pool - Ray Martin & Rosser Reeves, (Illustrated by) Harry Zelenko

IMO, the BEST book ever.
 
Winning One Pocket & Shots, Moves, Strategies
99 Critical Shots in Pool
and the Mcgoorty book.
 
The King said:
Hello ...

Just looking to see what you AZ'ers think ...There is a copy of John Grisham's book Billiards for sale in the for sale section of the forum and it got me to looking at what all books were wrote about our beloved game ... There are so many ... What are some of your favorites that you have been fortunate enough to read??? And would recommend to anyone that just loves the game?
Click to expand...

Without getting into the "How To" stuff: McGoorty: The Story of a Billiard Bum by Robert Byrne, Billiards: Hustlers and Heroes, Legends and Lies, and the Search for Higher Truth on the Green Felt by John Grissim, Hustler Days by R. A. Dyer, The Hustler and the Champ by R. A. Dyer, Thirty Years of Billiards by Willie Hoppe, Playing off the Rail by David McCumber, Buddy Hall: Rags to Rifleman, Then What? by W. W. Woody, The Hustler and The Color of Money by Walter Tevis, Bet High and Kiss Low by Grady Mathews, Billiards and The New Illustrated Encyclopedia of Pool an Billiards by Mike Shamos, The Billiard Encyclopedia by Victor Stein and Paul Rubino, Running the Table by L. Jon Wertheim, How to Get by Without Working by Peter "Peter Rabbit" Linhard, Robert Byrne's Wonderful World of Pool and Billiards and Byrne's Book of Great Pool Stories by Robert Byrne, Pool and Billiard Collectibles by Mark and Connie Stellinga, Winning One Pocket and Shots, Moves, and Strategies edited by Eddie Robin, The Bank Shot and Other Great Robberies by Minnesota Fats, Banking With the Beard by Freddie Bentivegna, and Hustlers, Beats, and Others by Ned Polsky, The Lions and the Lambs by Thomas Fensch. These are what I have, don't have the Cornbread Red book or Danny Diliberto's book. Grissim's book is a must have, IMHO.
 
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I like the historical / biographical books best. "Willie's Game" by Stanley Cohen & Willie Mosconi was superb. R.A.Dyer's books "Hustler Days" and "The Hustler & The Champ" were both excellent. I'm a big Luther Lassiter fan, so I really enjoyed "Hustler Days". Buddy Hall's biography by W.W. Woody was also a great book.

Freddy Bentivegna's "The GosPool" and "Banking with the Beard" were both so good, especially "The GosPool" because of his stories of the great players of the past. He has the same gift that JohnnyT has...they write the truth in such a way that it's both gritty and funny at the same time.

"McGoorty" by Robert Byrne is a funny book as well. It's the sad tale of Danny McGoorty, a 3 cushion billiards player. There are some really great stories there.

All the others mentioned by previous posters in this thread are also very worthy reads. Grissim's book and "Playing off the Rail" are both hard to put down as well.

If I had a gun to my head and had to list my all time favorite 3, they would be 1. Willie's Game 2. Hustler Days 3. The GosPool
 
I forgot Willie's Game. I'd have to include my older Billiards Digests, the two issue article on Mosconi, the Irving Crane interview, and the one I remember the most, the interview with Allan Hopkins and Luther "Wimpy" Lassiter. Though these aren't books, some of the articles are priceless.
 
99 Critical Shots in pool
Playing off the rail
Running the table
Byrne's standard book of pool & billiards
 
IMO, "Rags to Rifleman, Then What?" Buddy Hall's biography by W.W. Woody is the overall most interesting pool book, at least the first three-quarters of it, especially if you like road stories--and who doesn't.
 
Wow ...

Thanks to all of you ... I grew up playing in the bars of Southern California I had a older teacher who would take me with him each night and teach me the game he grew up in Owensborro Ky ... And knew one of the eventual world champions that would come out of that town that owned a local pool hall my teacher knew the game well and we traveled all over California playing and made a trip or two up to Vegas ... I could tell many a story like I'm sure all of you could share many stories of this great game as a young kid the game taught me alot it gave me alot and it made for some low times in my life... I remember one Christmas all our family was on Vaction and my teacher and I had stayed home ... that night we pooled all our money together and it came to just under 5.00 we were destitute ..lol...on Christmas should of gone with my teachers wife and family ... But that night we put our money together and found a small game by the end of the night we walked out with several hundred dollars and was eating steak dinners the next night ... Of course I have also seen the other side of that too ...lol.., It is a wonderful and sometimes harsh game we share. I played till I was 30 and my son was born then put the game to the side to raise him on my own... He turned 18 in Sept ... I wanna say the break was good for me I'm getting my game back and I have a much purer love for the game. When I was younger I just spent all my time on the table trying to figure out how to hussle a buck now that I'm older I'm trying to find out the history of the game and it is a completly different experience... Guess after raising a son I matured and can appreciate the game as more then just a way to make money or go broke trying.

Also after not playing for so long people don't really know me and it is easier to find a game... I know that once people around here realize I can play a little, games will be harder to find but that is not important to me ... Now I do it because I just love to play and I practice because I want to be the best it's not just about the money anymore... I use to walk into the Old halls and look at the old men like a easy mark... lol, that sounds bad cause they seldom are anything but easy ... Now I walk into a old pool room and think what a lovely place , I take time to appreciate the old antique tables and wonder who may of played on them ... I'm in the middle of redoing my house to put a table in it so that I don't have to go out every night to play...

And I thank all of you that have posted the names of these books , And to all of you that will post good books to read... This is something I really want to do read up more on the game ... I purchased Grishams book Billiards off of Amazon tonight and I will purchase more to read ... Thank you for posting these and please continue to do so ...
 
All of the previously listed especially:

99 Critical Shots
Winning One Pocket
Shots, Moves, and Strategies

and I will add these:

Lions and the Lambs (try finding it) by Thomas Fensch 1970
The Hustlers Handbook by Steve Allen 1993
Pleasures of Small Motions by Bob Fancher 2000,2002
Hal Mix's Pocket Billiard Secrets by Hal Mix 1994,1995
The Pocket Billiards Textbook by Richard P. Beverly 1974,1982,1984,1988
 
I love all my books but i have a special fondness for an old (1954) edition of Advanced Snooker by Joe Davis.

I like the feel of it and the smell of it, its pages still sharp, but having acquired that patina of time.

It bears a stamp that states "The Wellington Club" 303 Frank Street Ottawa. And was published by Country Life Ltd, in England.

I got in on e-bay a few years back.

Fats
 
best pool book of all time

Billiards For Everyone By Clive Cottingham The Only Pool Book That Fully Explains The Diamond System! Read And Get Betty! Thanks Sparky
 
WOW!! I just looked up Grissim's book, "Hustlers and Heroes, Legends and Lies and the Search for Higher Truth on the Green Felt" on Amazon.com. Four copies:

$87.80-Good
$100.00-Acceptable
$165.99-Very Good
$172.50-Very Good

They also say there is trade paper cover, not available at present, which I've never heard of before. It's been some time since I looked this up and I was surprised that the book was even on Amazon, let alone in the hands of professional book dealers.
 
Personally, 99 Critical Shots is a good book, but, not for the novice. There are a lot of better books available. Byrnes or Capelle if you are just starting out.

There is still a lot of flaws in the Martin book. See Bob Jewetts review on the book. http://www.sfbilliards.com/articles/2002-07.pdf

If he would update it, it would be more acceptable. JMO
 
Playin Off the Rail is one of my all time favorites. As far as learning goes, I'd have to go with Byrne's New Standard Book of Pool and Billiards. The past few years (not recently though) I've been looking for one of Eddie Robbins one pocket books but haven't had any luck.
 
klockdoc said:
Personally, 99 Critical Shots is a good book, but, not for the novice. There are a lot of better books available. Byrnes or Capelle if you are just starting out.

There is still a lot of flaws in the Martin book. See Bob Jewetts review on the book. http://www.sfbilliards.com/articles/2002-07.pdf

If he would update it, it would be more acceptable. JMO
Click to expand...

Hmmm... now when I lose, I have Ray Martin to blame. :D
 
As this thread demonstrates; there are a lot of good books and owning a small library isn't uncommon.

I would started with:
Capelle -Play your best pool, Play your best 8-Ball, and/or Play your best 8-Ball
Martin & Reeves - The 99 Critical Shots In Pool (even with the errors, it's a great reference)
Francher - Pleasures of Small Motions: Mastering the Mental Game of Pocket Billiards
 
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