The Hustler & The Champ: Willie Mosconi, Minnesota Fats, and the Rivalry that Defined Pool (Hardcover)

by R. A. Dyer (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
In 1978, Minnesota Fats played Willie Mosconi on ABC's Wide World of Sports. Fats was the most famous pool hustler in the world; Mosconi was the best pool player in the world. Where Fats was funny and lovable, Mosconi was flinty and unlikable—a match made in ratings heaven. The two embarked on a brief career together: while Fats entertained the audience, Mosconi won the matches. Dyer, the author of Hustler Days (2003) and a columnist for Billiards Digest, puts the events in historical context—lots of it—using the men as symbols of the long-running war between the soul of the game and its corporate image. It's a great concept, and Dyer's indefatigable digging unearths some gleaming nuggets. His you-are-there prose style can overreach, however (he writes "he would have said" too often), and he repeats key points the reader already understands. But for those who love pool for all the "wrong" reasons, Dyer is indispensable. After all, the name that became synonymous with pool was not that of clean-living Mosconi—but lying, cheating, overeating, unforgettable Fats. Graff, Keir

From the Back Cover

Willie Mosconi was pool’s greatest champion—the winner of fifteen world titles, the holder of records that have remained undisturbed for generations. Minnesota Fats was pool’s most important trickster, a man who built his fame and fortune upon deceit and guile. In 1978, both men came together for what would become the most viewed pocket billiards match in American history. Before a breathless nation, pool’s two most important personalities set out to prove who really was best.

 

Mosconi may have been remembered as one of the most dominant sports figures of all time, a man who had laid low some of the greatest players in history—but no one would pose a greater threat to his legacy than the man-child Minnesota Fats. So when the consummate perfectionist and the unapologetic gambler finally went head to head for what Howard Cosell described as one of the most fascinating televised segments he ever hosted, all of America would ask the same question: Who would win?

 

The Hustler & The Champ tells of both men’s hardscrabble march to greatness, of their bitter decades-long rivalry, and finally of the televised shoot-out that revealed pocket billiards to millions even as it exposed the deep contradictions within all of organized competition. Through the 1920s, the Great Depression, and the resurgent 1960s, R.A. Dyer follows the lives of both men and tells the story of America’s conflicted love affair with the sport of rogues.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: The Lyons Press (October 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592288839
• ISBN-13: 978-1592288830
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #96,253 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Legacy of Mosconi and Minnesota Fats, December 11, 2007

By	Dale Pastel (Agoura Hills, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I found R.A. Dyer's "The Hustler & The Champ" an enjoyable and important read, especially for those pool enthusiasts that truly understand the beauty and the greatness of the lost game of straight pool. While there are young players today that can also run 'hundreds', we will likely never see the game of 14.1 played the way it was played during Mosconi's reign. Greenleaf, Mosconi, Ponzi, Procita, Eufemia and others played "old style straight pool" and all shared similar rules of navigation on the felt when running racks. Few players today, save for greats that played in proximity to Mosconi's era, such as 3-time world champion Ray Martin, Dallas West and a few others can resurrect the "old-style play."

As I progressed through Dyer's book I found myself sympathizing with Mosconi's absolute frustration and his sadness of having denied himself a personal life with his family because of his investment of years "on the road" for Brunswick doing exhibitions and living out of hotels for a game that unfortunately also died. At the "end of it all" the magic and greatness of straight pool died anyways and denied Mosconi
even the legacy of keeping the game of straight pool alive.

I found facinating Dyer's description of Mosconi's apathy for playing pool and being forced out of financial necessity to play the game and yet performing nonetheless at a level that was unsurpassable. Dyer gives the reader an accurate and eye-opening read on the separate 'worlds' of pool...the "hustler's world of Minnesota Fats" and the "tournament world" of Willie Mosconi and their eventual combative and necessary collision. I would highly recommend this well researched and informative book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Dry but informative, March 23, 2008

By	Michael J. Bauers - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Ask anyone who the best pool player of all time was, and they may say Minnesota Fats. That's an amazing thing, because he was not the greatest pool player of all time, and the book/movie the Hustler were NOT based on him. Instead, he borrowed the name after the fact. WIllie Mosconi should be on people's short list as one the the greatest pool players of all time, but few know who he is. Such is the nature of people's lack of knowledge of pool history, and the effectiveness of Minnesota Fats' con.

This book covers these facts in detail, and covers the rivalry between Minnesota Fats and WIllie Mosconi. It all leads up to the two players contending against each other on ABC's wide world of sports.

Both RA Dyer books I have read were a bit dry, but informative. This book was more interesting than the other, though. I suggest anyone wanting to understand either of these players read this book. This information is covered in other places, but in piecemeal fashion.

If pool/billiards history is not your thing, I suggest more entertaining books such as 'Playing off the Rail' (non fiction), or 'Stroke' (fiction)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great reading!, October 19, 2007

By	G. Keis (Cleveland, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Fantastic book.... So much is revealed (and explained) about the "real" lives of Willie & Fats that I never knew...What a rivalry and what a life they lived!
A must read for anyone (especially pool players) interested in how these two icons impacted the world of pool forever, and what price their families paid for their fame.
An excellent sequel to R.A. Dyer's "Hustler Days" and "Living Off the Rail" that follows the life and times of so many more legends of the billiard world.
G. Keis / Cleveland, OH