Customer Reviews

Sweet

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a female and a bona fide pool addict I tend to read just about every pool story I can get my hands on. Almost always, said story is about the adventures of pool hustlers and gamblers. While I can appreciate the fortitude and skill a "hustler" must possess in order to survive, they often boil down to seedy, conniving characters that have to steal from unsuspecting weaker players to make a living... and they're proud of it! It's refreshing to read about the passion and allure that drew the author to a game that has a purity for many, an endless fascination for others, and even becomes a religion to the truely annoited - and all from a woman's perspective. While Byer's narrative gives her away as a lower skilled player, her passion for the game and the comraderie and fulfillment she finds while shooting for her pool team is contagious. It had me itching to go out and practice, to listen to the quiet click of the balls, to feel the satisfaction that comes with every good shot, to engage in the thrill of competition.

A fun romp through the New York bar pool scene. The author gets a little too cute with the language at times ("The glasses looked forlorn."), which elevates the cheese factor.

A fun and entertaining memoir from an enchanting new author, Heather Byer, about the life and times of an out-of-town girl learning to play pool. I haven't been able to put it down: I might even have to start playing pool when I'm done.

This was a random pickup in my reading collection. Byers gets past your resistance by basically loving the game. You can forgive some of the self examining and digressions because she isn't bragging during her account. She's showing you something that's become a passion for her. Sweet was a fun read and I appreciate the ride.

I loved this book. Rarely do I find memoirs to be page-turners like this one. I found myself looking forward to my morning subway ride so I could find out the next installment of Heather Byer's "Odyssey," in which she contends with her own Cyclops, lotus eaters, and Circe (in the form of ill-tempered, icily cold, and just plain loony pool players from New York's pool league scene). Readers get an intimate look at an intelligent, keenly observant, and very funny woman as she learns to maneuver her pool balls across the billiard table and herself through a social milieu far different from the professional world for which her midwestern, Ivy League upbringing had prepared her. As a casual pool player myself, the book taught me a great deal about the game and inspired me to find a local watering hole with a pool table and chalk up a cue.

...or for anyone looking for a story about transformation.

Anyone who plays pool, however casually, will appreciate Byer's descriptions of nail-biting games. And anyone who has tried to learn something new as an adult will appreciate her frustrations as her game alternately improves and falls into slumps. I'm not sure what felt most familiar to me--her descriptions of New York City, her passionate love for the game, or Byer herself, a smart strong woman who is used to being good at things and who finds herself struggling madly to grasp this complicated and under-appreciated game. Her depictions of the world of league pool are so vivid, those who play will nod with recognition, and those who don't will feel as if they do. Most important, we get to watch her grow and change both as a player and as a person. If pool is your game you must read this book. Even if it's not, this is a beautifully-told story of a woman learning to hold her own in a world largely dominated by men. I couldn't put it down.

An out-of-town girl learns to play pool in this fun memoir. New Yorkers will also love the flavor of their city throughout the book.

This book is informative, interesting and easy to read without becoming boring. I liked the way the author described her experiences and how she related those experiences to the theme of the book. I highly recommend this book to everybody.

Propulsive, addictive, such a deeply satisfying read. Makes low-stakes pool a metaphor for breaking through all kinds of barriers. One of the best memoirs.

This is a delightful book, one that took me by surprise as memoir qualifies as my least favorite genre. But I started reading it, largely because I am a New Yorker (by adoption if not birth) and I like pool - not enough to brave the New York chapter of the American Poolplayers Association, but enough for misty-eyed memories of summers at my grandfather's table in Austin, Texas. That the author, Heather Byer, is far more certain in her literary voice than she is in her 8-ball skills makes her a terrific companion on every page, especially in her deft portraits of the Manhattan pool-bar world.