Finally found a copy of Rags to Rifleman

[gunzby]

Every so often I'll scour the internet for a copy. Most of the time if I do find a copy it's priced too high for my taste. I'm just interested in reading it. I have no interest in keeping it, or reselling.

Any time I do find a good one I tell myself that I'll pick it up when I get home. Every time I say this it's gone by the time I get back to buying it. This time I jumped on it. I found two copies and one of them was priced at $600.

For anyone else that has been searching for this book I guess I can say now to keep your eyes open because after I read it I'll be selling it

 

[jeffj2h]

Looks like you can get Rags to Rifleman on Amazon for $110 + $4 shipping.


This made me think about Grady Mathew's book, Bet High and Kiss Low. I've been meaning to read it. I just ordered it from Amazon for $10.

 

[Teacherjohn]

Re;: Grady's book. .

It ain't worth $10. Grady was an illiterate nincompoop who constantly uses "fancy" words wrong and couldn't spell for shit. His book is a garbled mess of syntax and misspellings. One critic, I forget who, wrote that this book "cries out for an editor." Obviously Grady edited the book himself. I don't think Grady ever went to high school.

 

[Cowboy Dennis]

It ain't worth $10. Grady was an illiterate nincompoop who constantly uses "fancy" words wrong and couldn't spell for shit. His book is a garbled mess of syntax and misspellings. One critic, I forget who, wrote that this book "cries out for an editor." Obviously Grady edited the book himself. I don't think Grady ever went to high school.

The book Rags To Rifleman is about Buddy Hall and it's not written by Grady.

The book you describe sounds like "Bet High and Kiss Low" written by Grady and described very well by you. It's a literary masterpiece of garbage.

EDIT: Teacherjohn, I now see you were referencing Grady's book. My mistake.

 

[SJDinPHX]

The book Rags To Rifleman is about Buddy Hall and it's not written by Grady.

The book you describe sounds like "Bet High and Kiss Low" written by Grady and described very well by you. It's a literary masterpiece of garbage.

EDIT: Teacherjohn, I now see you were referencing Grady's book. My mistake.

I see you are still NOT looking, before you leap!...

PS..Wheres my $4200.

 

[wahcheck]

rags to rifleman to exorbitant price

Can someone who has read this book give a critique?

Maybe there's been one given in the past, but I don't know how to find it.

I'll probably never shell out $600 or any amount near it, so I guess I'll probably never get to read it.

 

[Ken_4fun]

You can pick it up in used book stores in Paducah for $5-10, Ive bought many of them when I lived there.

Some were signed and some werent.

Ken

 

[Nine ... corner]

It ain't worth $10. Grady was an illiterate nincompoop who constantly uses "fancy" words wrong and couldn't spell for shit. His book is a garbled mess of syntax and misspellings. One critic, I forget who, wrote that this book "cries out for an editor." Obviously Grady edited the book himself. I don't think Grady ever went to high school.

I haven't read this one but your review could just as easily be written for "Through the Eyes of the Lizard" by Steven James Smith who certainly didn't know what a homonym is. Just horrible.

 

[Charlie Hustle]

You can pick it up in used book stores in Paducah for $5-10, Ive bought many of them when I lived there.

Some were signed and some werent.

Ken

If this is true, someone should pick up multiple copies and sell them online. Obviously 1 at a time.

 

[Pleinairrider]

Why is this book so valuable and sought after? Has anyone made a pDF of the darn thing?

 

[gunzby]

Why is this book so valuable and sought after? Has anyone made a pDF of the darn thing?

From what I've heard it's a very good book. Add to that it being about a legend as well as it not being published for a long time and you have a higher price

 

[Tooler]

I don't think anyone could make a pdf of it, based on the size of the print(small.real small), and the fact that the binding is probably the worst thing about the book.There really isn't a binding,just glue.
Every book I've seen, that was used, some of the pages are separating,and or,coming apart. Very Cheap production, but a great read.

 

[FordSVTCobra]

I read it once about 20 years ago so the details are a little fuzzy. It's a very good book as pool related books go and worth reading by anyone who enjoys the history of the game. It's not worth the price that a lot of examples have been selling for though in my opinion. My biggest complaint was the font size being ridiculously small for no apparent reason. Others have also commented that Buddy doesn't seem to go into detail about any of his losses during that period but I guess that's to be expected and I'm sure he didn't lose too often when he was playing on top of his game.

 

[SJDinPHX]

One would have to be a certified pool nut, (which, I guess most of us are) to find any redeeming qualities in either Buddy or Grady's books!..Both are just reflections on their past accomplishments, and chock full of half-truths, and innuendos!..Neither are well written, and both books have benefited from the fact that neither one ordered enough to exceed even the minimal demand, hence the overpricing they now enjoy

PS..I bought both books at issue price, read them, and then sold or gave them away at my first opportunity. Hard to believe they are still in such demand!

 

[franko]

Certified

One would have to be a certified pool nut, (which, I guess most of us are) to find any redeeming qualities in either Buddy or Grady's books!..Both are just reflections on their past accomplishments, and chock full of half-truths, and innuendos!..Neither are well written, and both books have benefited from the fact that neither one ordered enough to exceed even the minimal demand, hence the overpricing they now enjoy

PS..I bought both books at issue price, read them, and then sold or gave them away at my first opportunity. Hard to believe they are still in such demand!

I guess I am a certified Pool nut. It is hard for me to like a book about Pool. Rags to Rifleman was one of my favorites. The only thing I did not like were some chapters had extremely small print.
The best thing for me after reading it was seeing Buddy at the US Open , I went up to him and told him how much I liked the book. I can still see his face today it lit up with a great big smile and he said " It was good wasn't it !"
We all love to tell people about our experiences and most of us can't tell 10% what these road players experienced. Just my take but I appreciate them putting their lives in print for us.

 

[K2Kraze]

Looks like you can get Rags to Rifleman on Amazon for $110 + $4 shipping.





This made me think about Grady Mathew's book, Bet High and Kiss Low. I've been meaning to read it. I just ordered it from Amazon for $10.

Currently only one available on Amazon and it is $275. Used - Good. Not great. Not Autographed. Worth every penny - and you'd know it if you read it.

Just to make sure everyone on this thread is talking about the same book, here it is....my copy. Autographed by both Woody and Buddy.

A portion of the table of contents:

And a few words from Woody...

K.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[JB Cases]

For pool nuts like me these books are great. No they are not polished and yes some of the stories are unbelievable. But they conjure up a certain romance of a free swinging lifestyle that most of us dream of (without the downsides) but could never bring ourselves to attempt to follow.

I once had ten copies of Buddy's book. I sold them all for the retail price and didn't keep any. I now have one copy back thanks to a good deal and I treasure it. It's always fun to open it randomly and read a story.

Of the player-written ones Buddy's offers the most value in my opinion. Even at a price of a couple hundred it still offers more value than most I have seen.

The better books by far though are the professional writer written ones like those by R.A. Dyer. There you get more factual information in a well written format or as in the Hustler and The Color of Money you get great fictional writing that delves into the pysche of pool hustling.

 

[SJDinPHX]

For pool nuts like me these books are great. No they are not polished and yes some of the stories are unbelievable. But they conjure up a certain romance of a free swinging lifestyle that most of us dream of (without the downsides) but could never bring ourselves to attempt to follow.

I once had ten copies of Buddy's book. I sold them all for the retail price and didn't keep any. I now have one copy back thanks to a good deal and I treasure it. It's always fun to open it randomly and read a story.

Of the player-written ones Buddy's offers the most value in my opinion. Even at a price of a couple hundred it still offers more value than most I have seen.

The better books by far though are the professional writer written ones like those by R.A. Dyer. There you get more factual information in a well written format or as in the Hustler and The Color of Money you get great fictional writing that delves into the pysche of pool hustling.

Hi John..I am not really surprised that a pool nut like you, would think Buddy's book was a 'great' literary achievement!..It is poorly written, and full of contradictions, and half truths, and as you said "unbelievable" stories!..It is barely better than Grady's book, which is/was, a complete disaster!

Thanks to Woody, some of the stories are mildly entertaining, but for the most part they are just re-hashed, boring recollections, of a somewhat seedy, wasted youth, not unlike what any other hard core pool hustler could assemble!..You are right about one thing though..Stick to Dyer or Tevis, for a better look at how the pool world really was..'back in the day'!

 

[Henry W]

Hi John..I am not really surprised that a pool nut like you, would think Buddy's book was a 'great' literary achievement!..It is poorly written, and full of contradictions, and half truths, and as you said "unbelievable" stories!..It is barely better than Grady's book, which is/was, a complete disaster!

Thanks to Woody, some of the stories are mildly entertaining, but for the most part they are just re-hashed, boring recollections, of a somewhat seedy, wasted youth, not unlike what any other hard core pool hustler could assemble!..You are right about one thing though..Stick to Dyer or Tevis, for a better look at how the pool world really was..'back in the day'!

I read Rags to Rifleman and found it very entertaining, not a great literary achievement and it was not meant to be. It is basically 2 pool players attempting to record a bit of pool history and the life of maybe the best 9 ball player ever. I think they did a great job considering neither is an author. I have read some really bad books written by pool players most notably the Lizards which are unreadable. I think the book captures the life of a pool hustler during the time better than any book I have read and I have read Dyers book which is a completely different concept written by a professional and it was good but not that entertaining and was dealing with a earlier generation of pool player. It is true that Buddy beat every living human playing 9 ball on a bar table and big table and spotted many of them and won the money. He did lose to Dave Matlock playing with the big cue ball and broke even with Wilfred a bus driver in New Mexico with the big cue ball. He did give Louie Roberts the 7 ball a number of times and won. Ronnie did give him 9/7 playing one pocket on Buddy's home table and Ronnie won. I know they did not focus on Buddys losses which is understandable but I honestly don't think Buddy booked very many losers during this time and the reason is most of the matches were ahead sets which pretty much means the best player wins and Buddy was the best player and he matched up pretty good.

 

[JB Cases]

Hi John..I am not really surprised that a pool nut like you, would think Buddy's book was a 'great' literary achievement!..It is poorly written, and full of contradictions, and half truths, and as you said "unbelievable" stories!..It is barely better than Grady's book, which is/was, a complete disaster!

Thanks to Woody, some of the stories are mildly entertaining, but for the most part they are just re-hashed, boring recollections, of a somewhat seedy, wasted youth, not unlike what any other hard core pool hustler could assemble!..You are right about one thing though..Stick to Dyer or Tevis, for a better look at how the pool world really was..'back in the day'!

I didn't say literary achievement. I found them entertaining. You and I have different perspectives as you actually lived through that period as a top notch player. For people my age we came into pool at a time just before the internet and so we got some of the gunslinger vibe and our only sources of information were the stories and magazines.

So a book like Buddy's fit neatly into an amateur pool nut's fantasy back then in the 90s. It was our equivalent of peeking in the window of the pool room.

For literary achievements I clearly stated that pool books written by professional writers are what fits in that category.