The AZB New Book List

I think it’s him,


hurricane145​

AzB Silver Member​

Silver Member
What happened to Pat anyway?
I know he died several years ago but have never heard what caused his death.
I used to see him around town here in Seattle once in a while. His book was the first book I ever bought on pool. When I was new to playing pool he fixed a cheapo cue for me when the tip came off, and tapered the shaft for just a few bucks.
We talked about pool cues and he sent me in the right direction so I bought a new Huebler H-1.
 
These books reveal secrets the pros are reluctant to share.

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Just discovered this thread. Of all the pool books I've got and read, these are the top ten I'd never part with:

W. W. Woody, Buddy Hall: Rags to Rifleman, and Then What? (Ridiculously expensive on the used market, needs to be reprinted)
David McCumber, Playing Off The Rail - I keep coming back to this book over and over. Maybe the best of the lot.
Ned Polsky, Hustlers, Beats and Others - 1967 classic study of the hustler culture in Manhattan pool halls
R. A. Dyer, Hustler Tales (Fats, Wimpy, and Jersey Red)
R. A. Dyer, The Hustler and the Champ (Fats and Mosconi)
Robert Byrne, McGoorty: The Story of a Billiard Bum
Ray Martin, The 99 Critical Shots in Pool
Cornbread Red: Pool's Greatest Money Player
Willie Mosconi, Willie's Game
Minnesota Fats with Tom Fox, The Bank Shot and Other Robberies. High percentage of BS but still entertaining.
 
TX Poolnut said:
Some of you know that I work in the receiving area of a large bookstore. Now everyone does.

At work, thousands and thousands of new books pass through my hands on a weekly basis. I've thought about passing along some new pool-related books from time to time. Up until now, I've only thought about it. Now I'm gonna try it.

So from now on, I'm going to try to pass along a pic in this thread of all the pool-related books I come across and their ISBN.

Be patient please. Sometimes I don't see anything pool-related for a long while, but I'll do my best to inform you guys.

Again, this will be new releases and first trade releases, new mass market books, etc. Hopefully, this thread benefits some of you guys and maybe even the authors too. :)
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I’m a big proponent of Phil Capelle’s 11 books and the new one he‘s writing called
“Pool Is The Answer”😃
It’s going to be the NUTS!
 

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Taxi said:
Just discovered this thread. Of all the pool books I've got and read, these are the top ten I'd never part with:

W. W. Woody, Buddy Hall: Rags to Rifleman, and Then What? (Ridiculously expensive on the used market, needs to be reprinted)
David McCumber, Playing Off The Rail - I keep coming back to this book over and over. Maybe the best of the lot.
Ned Polsky, Hustlers, Beats and Others - 1967 classic study of the hustler culture in Manhattan pool halls
R. A. Dyer, Hustler Tales (Fats, Wimpy, and Jersey Red)
R. A. Dyer, The Hustler and the Champ (Fats and Mosconi)
Robert Byrne, McGoorty: The Story of a Billiard Bum
Ray Martin, The 99 Critical Shots in Pool
Cornbread Red: Pool's Greatest Money Player
Willie Mosconi, Willie's Game
Minnesota Fats with Tom Fox, The Bank Shot and Other Robberies. High percentage of BS but still entertaining.
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What about “Billiards” by John Grisam?
 
This is not exactly a new book, but it is a new reprint. This was done by the daughter of Andrew Ponzi who wanted her family to know about her father. It is a very well-done reprint. The book is mostly biography with a little instruction, some trick shots and some pictures of the champions of Ponzi's era. He died in 1950 at the age of 47. The original book, printed in 1948, is quite rare. (Available on Ebay, not sure about other sales channels.)

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My FleeceBunk feed regularly gets ads from a guy who is in the process of publishing a book on his insights to the general principles of practice. The various blurbs he has written look enticing but lack specifics -- not even little tidbits and concepts. So.... it appears that he finally has a print copy available. I looked around for reviews (avoiding the ones on the author's website) and found one that started like this:

TL;DR: Don’t waste your money on this book. It is shallow, short and poorly written. The useful information in it would fit on a napkin. It concludes with a legal threat against copying, though it’s hard to imagine anyone wanting to.​
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I read the (not really TL) rest of the review and agree with the reviewer's conclusions. He kept me from spending $40 on a 90-page book with large print that is mostly an ad for the author's "Master Class".

This is another example of the problem caused by the ease of self-publishing these days. While it enables excellent specialty books like the ones members here have published recently on Ralph Greenleaf and one pocket, it also produces great steaming piles of dreck. I've hit on some of the dreck in reviews above.
 
Somehow this autobiography of Barry Hearn didn't get into this thread. If you want to understand Matchroom and its relation to pool, you need to read this book. I found it fascinating.

You can get a new copy delivered to your house for under $20. This one on Ebay is free shipping from the UK.

EDIT: and then I looked around a little and found copies available for under $8 delivered. Google "Barry Hearn My Life book"

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Cord said:
That 9-ball book has me curious, and my search engine results aren't turning up squat. Might be a long shot, but can anyone provide the ISBN for it?
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The Tom Pringle book had two editions. The first was printed in 1994 and 1996, and the second in 2009. There was no ISBN in either edition.

The author's business website is http://rapidlv.com.

If you are looking for secrets, as advertised above, I looked through the whole book and didn't see any. There were several things I disagree with.
 
Bob Jewett said:
The Tom Pringle book had two editions. The first was printed in 1994 and 1996, and the second in 2009. There was no ISBN in either edition.
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I have extra copies of the book, both editions. $35 shipped. The price is set by the lack of availability, so you might try the author first.
 
After the book you need to watch 'The Rack Pack', a great comic bio movie of snooker when BH, Davis and Hurricane were the guys.
 
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