Byrne's Wonderful World of Pool and Billiards: A Cornucopia of Instruction, Strategy, Anecdote, and Colorful Characters [Hardcover]

Robert Byrne (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 1996

A treasury of amazing shots, inside secrets, and favorite stories from the renowned pool and billiards writer-the perfect armchair companion for would-be pool sharks everywhere. Index; diagrams and photographs.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Robert Byrne is the author of seven novels, five collections of humorous quotations, seven books on billiards, two anthologies, and an expose of frauds in the literary world. One of his novels, Thrill, was made into NBC’s Monday Night Movie, which aired for the first time on May 20, 1996. Four of his novels were selections of Reader’s Digest Condensed Books and published in many languages. His style is widely praised for its clarity and wit. Byrne’s Standard Book of Pool and Billiards, published in 1978 and expanded in 1998, has sold over 400,000 copies. In the world of pool and billiards, his books, hundreds of instructional magazine articles, six videotapes (shot on sound stages in Burbank and Hollywood, California), have established him as the preeminent teacher and commentator. As a player, he has won tournaments in almost every form of the game. He finished third in the National Professional Three-Cushion Championship in 1977 held in North Hollywood. In 1999, he won both the National Amateur and the National Senior billiard tournaments. His contributions to billiards and pool were recognized when he was awarded the greatest honor in the sport: induction into the Billiard Congress of America’s Hall of Fame. The honor, for Meritorious Service, was bestowed on July 21, 2001, at the Las Vegas Hilton at a banquet closing the annual world billiard trade show. He was inducted with many-times world billiard champion Raymond Ceulemans of Belgium. Byrne was born and raised in Dubuque, Iowa, spent forty years in the San Francisco Bay Area, and returned to Dubuque in 1996, where he now lives with his wife Cindy, a painter and graphic artist. After graduating with a civil engineering degree from the University of Colorado in 1954, he edited a trade journal in the heavy construction industry. He became a full-time writer in 1977.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 1st edition (November 15, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0151001669
• ISBN-13: 978-0151001668
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,003,588 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining, informative and at times useful, too, August 2, 2003

By 

S. McCandlish "Webmaster, pool instructor, an... (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Byrne's Wonderful World of Pool and Billiards: A Cornucopia of Instruction, Strategy, Anecdote, and Colorful Characters (Paperback)

Highly entertaining, and informative to boot, with plenty of tips you can use in your game. Anyone who already has Byrne's Standard Book of Pool and Byrne's Advanced should also get this, and his Treasury of Trick Shots book, as all four volumes regularly refer to (useful) information in each other. While this is MOSTLY a fun book about colorful characters, billiards history, tricks shots, and amusing stories, your casual, league and even tournament player can learn a few good pointers from the materials herein.
[...]

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Byrnes another treasure, August 26, 2001

By 

Rick Jennings (Lebanon, Tennessee USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Byrne's Wonderful World of Pool and Billiards: A Cornucopia of Instruction, Strategy, Anecdote, and Colorful Characters (Hardcover)

It's fun, informative and useful. I have several Byrne books and videos and I review them once in a while. I hesitated buying this in fear it was merely a revamping of old material. I found it used...and bought it anyway; I was so wrong, it's totally new and fresh and a great addition to my library. Byrne comes thru once again and shows why he's been inducted into the BCA hall of Fame.

1 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great piece of literature and "how to" book, June 29, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Maine) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Byrne's Wonderful World of Pool and Billiards: A Cornucopia of Instruction, Strategy, Anecdote, and Colorful Characters (Hardcover)

Originally after I read Byrne's "Skyscraper" novel I thought he had absolutely no talent in placing words together, placing him in the moronic catagory, as well as a complete bore! But he swings and connects with this work! Bravo!