A Mah Jong Handbook: How to Play, Score, and Win [Paperback]

Eleanor Noss Whitney (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2001

A Mah Jong Handbook: How to Play, Score, and Win presents the complete official mah jong game in convenient format, so those totally unfamiliar with the game will be able to play after an hour's reading and players with knowledge of the game will quickly expand their grasp of the strategy and variations. Part One covers the official game, Part Two covers alternatives, variations, and additions to the official game, and Part Three explores the fundamentals of winning strategy. With illustrative hands, scoring charts, and a glossary/index of terms, A Mah Jong Handbook is an invaluable resource--a complete guidebook to the ancient but ever-fresh game of mah jong.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A convenient guide, simply written and easily understood, for achieving proficiency in this Oriental game."—Asia Scene

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Tuttle Publishing (September 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804832781
• ISBN-13: 978-0804832786
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,416,904 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

65 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Satisfaction Guaranteed!!!!!!!!!, September 6, 2001

By 

Kevin Hing (St. Petersburg, Florida United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Mah Jong Handbook: How to Play, Score, and Win (Paperback)

Eleanor Noss Whitney has not only succeeded in writing a concise, understandable, and comprehensive Mah Jong handbook, she has elegantly and expertly distilled into a mere 176 pages the essential tools and strategies to achieve true mastery of this ancient and wonderful game.

Whitney's handbook is the only book that most players will ever need to become a knowledgeable, confident and winning Mah Jong player. The basics of play, including seating, dealer selection, wall-building, tile-dealing and play are laid out clearly with helpful examples and good illustrations. The scoring of Mah Jong is explained with numerous carefully-constructed examples, with helpful diagrams of each tile scenario for good visual reference.

The strategy of the game is brilliantly explained in Part III, again with numerous examples that gradually train beginning players how to quickly make strategic decisions to enhance their play. As Whitney explains, Mah Jong is a game governed by sheer luck of the draw, yet the "skillful player is actually one who knows how to adapt to his luck." Her extensive explanations and examples of both "offensive" and "defensive" strategies are the soul of the book, and I, for one, was amazed how quickly my comphrehension of the game improved after having read the entire chapter.

It is true that the focus of the book is primarily on the Japanese and American rules and variations, but Chinese equivalent terms are included in an extensive Glossary-Index. For the vast majority of players, this will not be a serious problem.

If you buy one book on Mah Jong, it should be this one.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A tour de force, August 28, 2002

By 

Sir Bowen (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Mah Jong Handbook: How to Play, Score, and Win (Paperback)

The Mah Jong Handbook presents an amazingly clear method for approaching the game. The book is easy-to-read, but deals with every aspect of the game in detail.

To get the most out of the book, I recommend taking the time to work through the example exercises yourself (before going on to the analysis discussion.) Once you've gone through the book this way, you'll pretty much know everything that an expert player knows. The only thing left is to get in enough playing time to put the theory into practice.

In addition to the game aspects, the book discusses the accompanying rituals and etiquette, as well as many variations on the rules.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Useful, Comprehensive and Readable, August 23, 2005

By 

Yoshimura "book lover" (Kobe, Japan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Mah Jong Handbook: How to Play, Score, and Win (Paperback)

A good introduction to the game for beginners, with strategy advice that will be useful to more experienced players as well.

Whitney explains clearly and concisely, using easy to understand diagrams. She even manages to explain Mah Jong's rather complex scoring system, which can be a bit off-putting for beginners.

Her inclusion of the differences between Japanese and American rules is also quite helpful, although I've found that as with any game, some of the rules and terminology vary from region to region.

All in all a good book for those looking to begin playing Mah Jong, particularly those in Japan or with Japanese friends.