Customer Reviews

The Black Widow's Guide to Killer Pool: Become the Player to Beat

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is a trifecta. First, it is an excellent primer on the strategy, tactics and mechanics for novice pool players. The text explanations are re-enforced with excellent graphics.

Second, the book explores the life story and psychological make-up of a champion athlete/competitor; insightful and inspiring.

Finally, the book is well-written. The style is chatty and informal. Its an easy and pleasurable read.

Great book. No nonsense real view at the pro tour from a top world class player; one whom has not lost sight of the road traveled. She is unafraid to say how unpolished she was as an upcoming beginner and tips on being a real sportsperson. All done with impeccable witt, charm and profound insight. My perspective and game have both reached a new level; In one week of reading this book I was so inspired to get off my butt, join a BCA league, start doing drills everyday, and decided not to waste time playing around. I now make my time at the table count. In three weeks my fellow players have gone from "He's so lucky" to "His game has really improved." Jeanette Lee is an inspiration as a player and a person. Thanks to a wonderful lady and I hope that the universe finds a way to repay/reward her for her many contributions. Regards RJ ps just to let you know I own over 20 various books and 20 top vides on this subject. Many have helped at different stages of development; however, this is a very well written well rounded and humorus tome.

I got this book because I love to watch Jeanette Lee play the sport-- she is an exciting player to follow. The book captures her intense, competitive nature at the same time that she generously teaches the game of pool--skills, philosophy, approach, etc. The writing is smart and engaging. A nice break from the medical stuff I usually read.

I've seen Jeanette Lee play pool a few times on ESPN but never knew that much about her. As an avid pool player myself, I was always impressed with her ability and decided to pick up a copy of THE BLACK WIDOW'S GUIDE TO KILLER POOL after seeing it in a local book store. I was impressed; not only did this book reveal a few insights to the game -- especially in the fundamentals chapter -- but it also told the story of her life, which I found to be inspiring.

An excellent book for beginner-intermediate players and a good one for everybody else.
Very helpful section on how to select the equipment and well covered fundamentals. Will guide beginners through a well developed plan to start practicing and improving their game.
Intermediate players will find it helpful to review, analize and correct (if necessary) their actual game; furthermore, they will learn a lot from the second part of the book: "How to win". This second part covers important aspects of the player-game relationship, vital for staying focused and achieve your goals as a commited player.
The book is easy to read, for it is Jeanette who is talking to you from the beginning to the end. Most readers will find Jeanette's life quite inspiring, so even if you just want to learn a little bit more about her, you'll get what you're looking for.
Advanced - top players may not find this book as helpful, but they'll sure learn something from a world PRO player's advice and experience in tour. Becoming "the player to beat" is a process, and it takes more than the ability to make difficult shots, as you will discover.
After reading this book you'll find yourself playing a solid and better pool, with positive expectations to study and learn more about the game.

Although the cover of the book purports that reading "Black Widow" will improve your pool game, the book is really much more than a how-to.

Jeanette Lee and Adam Gershenson do offer great insight into the game. But they also paint a wonderful portrait of a woman who really has overcome a great deal to get where she is today. Lee's life experience make for exceptional reading and perhaps could be a great movie.

Gershenson is obviously a writer worth reading. I actually just checked to see if he had other books for sale, but I couldn't find anything yet. Hopefully, he'll publish again.

I expected to read an instructional guide on how to improve my game...but what I got was so much more! Besides providing me with instruction and tricks of the trade, I was captivated by Lee's account of her hardships, how she crossed boundaries and dispelled steroetypes... Lee/Gershenson takes what could be mechanical...and puts an interesting and enjoyable spin to it!

Jeanette Lee, argueably the world's most famous pool player, titles her book: The Black Widow's Guide to Killer Pool. She should have titled it The Black Widow's Guide to Killer Self-Aggrandizement. The book, in fact, contains little information or instruction for anyone more experienced than a novice to the game. Rather, the book serves as a rather shameless plug for Ms. Lee, detailing her triumphs on and off of the pool table, from how she battled crippling scoliosis, to how she (in her own mind) saved the WPBA (Women's Pro Billiards Association) with her looks and fashion sense. The book was an interesting read however, if just to see how Jeanette Lee sees her own contributions to the pool community.

Jeanette Lee's book is both informative and entertaining! Who knew from watching her play pool on ESPN (very intensely) that she has such a great sense of humor!

In this book, Jeanette shows you how to play, how to win and what life on tour is like. She also provides great background information on how she came to love the game.

She covers the fundamentals: grip, stance and bridges, and then moves on to the stroke, which she notes is the single most important element in your game. She even gives you a mantra to help you remember to follow through, "all the way back, all the way through."

She also explains aim and, while she explains the "ghost-ball system of aiming," she then quips that she doesn't believe in ghosts. Her basic advice is to just shoot shots, remember what you did, and then adjust until aiming correctly becomes second nature.

She describes in an easy-to-understand way how to make stop shots, follow shots, and draw shots. Her humor then comes into play again in the chapter called "specialty shots." She starts the chapter by saying her advice is not to read the chapter! Fortunately for us, she provides great tips in this chapter but says you should stick to mastering the basic shots before trying the specialty shots.

I am still practicing what she suggests in her book. But to give you an idea of how well it's working, after I beat my husband in a couple games (which rarely ever happens), he threatened to throw the book away!

I recommend this book to anyone wanting to play better pool, especially women.

I never thought I'd read a book about pool! while waiting in a book store I picked up this brightly colored book to pass the time. I probably read half of it before I purchased it. It was funny, and inspiring, and written oh so well. Now I may even try to play pool.