Long Overdue Thank You to Mr. Byrne

I have a well read copy of The Standard Book of Pool and Billiards and after I moved to South Carolina the bindery I used to work in ran The New Standard Book of Pool and Billiards. One of the guys I used to work with saved me a copy so I now have both. I think I have all his books and one video. I also have autographed copies of McGoorty!
 
I had played pool for about 15 years when Bob Byrnes books came out . I learned more in a week than I had been shown in 15 years .
I have had serious medical problems for about the last 10 years and did not play much at all until this last year and I realised I had forgotten a lot of basic concepts , so last week I took my Byrnes books and went to the poolroom and practiced.
I highly recommend it because I had forgotten a lot of important concepts
I met Bob once in the late 80s or early ninetys with a friend of mine and we discussed Joe Hoods Trick book .
Back then only about 10 people in the world even cared about Joe Hood so we had a nice time.
Thanks Bob for opening the door and turning on the lights, hope you are doing well.
 
Add me to the list. My first instructional videos were part 1 and part 2 of his series. Years later I purchased his book. I also agree, the information for someone who is learning the game is truely priceless.
 
The "Standard Book of Pool and Billiards was one of my first billiards books also. I've since taken this and Ray Martins book to Staples and had them spiral bound for a couple of bucks. It's nice to have them open flat on the table when playing.
 
FELIX said:
I heard these were good instruction books , I am going to order one .

Now if I could only read. :( Best to ya Rob
Click to expand...

His books are the stone cold nuts! Mine are all out on loan currently. If they come back I would happily share them with you, Felix!

Great stories everyone! Again, thank you all for sharing. A long overdue tribute to a man who has helped so many!

Ken
 
I have every book Robert Byrne has written.

In his Treasury of Trick Shots, there is a shot where three balls are frozen
to the same rail.
You have to shoot jacked-up by a ball's width and draw back for a carom on
the ball you're shooting over.....Robert said this shot is worth the price of
the book....I think many will agree with me if you buy the book....
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...ldzmeTKNR_5-KRxTg&sig2=4mGddmTkVqiV9VrixC9q4g
His Great Pool Stories seems also available.

I finally met Robert at the New Orleans BCA show...
..he is a wonderful person and very modest.
 
I think it's very cool that some of pools best and most popular instructors give his work such great reviews.
Nice to see someone appreciated in the pool world
 
Okie said:
... Mine are all out on loan currently. If they come back I would happily share them with you, Felix! ...
Click to expand...
If anyone is a little short of cash, you can get most of Byrne's books on Amazon for $10 delivered to your door. (That's one advantage of a book that has 500,000 copies circulating.) On the other hand, new is nice. I think his publisher has discontinued some of his books including "Treasury of Trick Shots."
 
Ken...I too loved Byrnes' books and videos, and learned a ton from them. Great stuff! When I started teaching college classes in the early 80's, the first day of class was always relegated to watching his first video. I found out years later that Willie Jopling was the first to use the term "tangent line", and describe it in written terms. According to Bill, he started showing people this concept in the late 50's. I don't know if Bob got the term from him or not. Both of them were great writers. RIP Willie!

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

Okie said:
Last night as I was helping a friend I was reminded of the best information I think I have ever received on the game of pool.

About 20 years ago I read Byrne's Standard Book of Pool and Billiards. The lesson which stuck with me was about the physics pertaining to the tangent line. Knowing what was really happening, opened my eyes to a lot of things I was doing/perceiving incorrectly.

Thank you Mr. Byrne!!

I would love to hear of other's experiences utilizing Mr. Byrne's books!

Ken
Click to expand...
 
Lots of great memories reading this

I think I am on my 4th "99 Critical Shots of Pool" book and close to the same with the original Byrnes book

Get into a conversation about the game and the next thing I know I am "loaning" out a book, never to be seen again

Both are exceptional books that came out at a time when sharing pool knowledge was not what it is today
 
Bob Jewett said:
If anyone is a little short of cash, you can get most of Byrne's books on Amazon for $10 delivered to your door. (That's one advantage of a book that has 500,000 copies circulating.) On the other hand, new is nice. I think his publisher has discontinued some of his books including "Treasury of Trick Shots."
Click to expand...

And those of you with e-book readers...check the availability of his books. It would be pretty cool to be able to use a Kindle...instead of an actual book to practice with at the table.

All I could find on Kindle was Treasury of Trick Shots but other providers may have more of his titles.

EagleMan
 
Each book from Byrnes was and still is a milestone.
the informations from his books appearing in almost every book over and over again in the last decades.....just overtake by other authors.

Nowadays there are maybe 4-5 books you *need* to cover the whole very difficult game of pool- and Robert Byrnes for sure wrote 2 of them :-)

Good Thread okie :-)

lg
Ingo
 
javi2 said:
The "Standard Book of Pool and Billiards was one of my first billiards books also. I've since taken this and Ray Martins book to Staples and had them spiral bound for a couple of bucks. It's nice to have them open flat on the table when playing.
Click to expand...

Great idea. My first copy fell apart from the use. I'm sure I'm not alone.

Freddie <~~~ only here for the pretty pictures
 
Bob Byrne is also one of the nicest and most articulate men you could ever spend an evening with. I had him as a house guest for two or three days about twenty-five years ago. Even my non-pool playing friends still ask about him. If you read fiction, his two early novels ONCE A CATHOLIC (originally MEMORIES OF A NON-JEWISH CHILDHOOD) and ALWAYS A CATHOLIC are delightful examinations of a young adult's struggles with losing his faith. If you are ever in a room with him and a piano, ask him to play "The Minute Waltz." I don't know whether he is still limber enough to bring it off, but you are in for a surprise. This is a man who belongs in the Hall. His MCGOORTY began the entire string of "oral histories" of pool to which we have been treated in the last thirty years, and is still the best written of them.
 
Tobermory said:
Bob Byrne is also one of the nicest and most articulate men you could ever spend an evening with. I had him as a house guest for two or three days about twenty-five years ago. Even my non-pool playing friends still ask about him. If you read fiction, his two early novels ONCE A CATHOLIC (originally MEMORIES OF A NON-JEWISH CHILDHOOD) and ALWAYS A CATHOLIC are delightful examinations of a young adult's struggles with losing his faith. If you are ever in a room with him and a piano, ask him to play "The Minute Waltz." I don't know whether he is still limber enough to bring it off, but you are in for a surprise. This is a man who belongs in the Hall. His MCGOORTY began the entire string of "oral histories" of pool to which we have been treated in the last thirty years, and is still the best written of them.
Click to expand...

He has compiled a few books of great famous sayings....I forget the titles at the moment but those books make for nice Christmas gifts to the general reader. Something like "the x best things ever said."

Jeff Livingston
 
Dear Chef Jeff--

The two florilegia by Bob that I know of are THE 2548 BEST THINGS ANYONE EVER SAID and THE 637 BEST THINGS ANYONE EVER SAID. Bob was asked once when I was present how he came upon 2,548 as the number. His answer was that 2,547 would have meant he had to leave something out and 2,549 would have been padding.

A word of caution. One of the later editions of one of these books has a dust jacket with a photograph of the author. Except that it isn't a picture of Bob!!!!
 
Tobermory said:
His MCGOORTY began the entire string of "oral histories" of pool to which we have been treated in the last thirty years, and is still the best written of them.
Click to expand...

That's because Bob is a writer and a billiard/pool player, not just a pool player.
 
Wife was asking about what I wanted for Christmas this year. I said Robert Byrne DVDs. She said which one? I said all of them!

Keep the stories coming! Come one come all!

Ken
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top