What others are saying about "The Hustler & The Champ"
Reviews of "The Hustler and the Champ: Willie Mosconi, Minnesota Fats, and the Rivalry that Redefined Pool"
photo courtesy of
Lyons Press
Reviews
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Billiards Digest said: "It was a great year for billiards in print, and leading the way was our own R.A. Dyer, with his ground-breaking examination of the rivalry between Willie Mosconi and Minnesota Fats. It's a brilliant comparative study, both in terms of their personalities and how they came to symbolize the two faces of pocket billiards: pristine tournament play and the more rugged world of the hustler. Both were perfectionists in their pursuits, and both hoped to define the sport."
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From the Nashville Scene.com review: "What led a grudge match in New York’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel to become...a focal event in American sports is a subject R.A. Dyer masterfully explores...."
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From the Pool and Billiards Magazine review: "This compare-and-contrast exercise between (Mosconi and Fats) is pure pool bliss. ... Dyer can be proud of this one -- it's an insightful (and delightful) look at two of pool's most fascinating players."
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From the Forbes Life, review: "The author's enthusiasm for the often-shadowy sport of pocket billiards comes through in this entertaining, minutely reasearched look at the history and events leading up to the famous 1978 broadcast grudge match between Willie Mosconi, perhaps the greatest straight-pool player ever, and Minnesota Fats, a con man with an Ali-esque mouth. ... With considerable wit, Dyer cast the match as a battle between the honorable and the corrupt, between sports and showbiz, between the game's older more regal heritage and the tobacco-stained, beer-soaked pool halls of post-Depression America. "
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Review from the McAllen
Monitor, by Martin Winchester. -
Short clip from the Austin American-Statesman: "Dyer, 44, who also doubles as a columnist for Billiards Digest, has surprisingly never shot pool with a politician. But he's angling to play nine ball with Rep. Tommy Merritt, R-Longview, who's been known to wield a cue. 'I don't know whether he's scared or what, but I haven't been able to do it so far,' Dyer said." — W. Gardner Selby
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Read the Du Quoin Evening Call review. The Du Quoin Evening Call is the Perry County newspaper and covers news for Dowell, the city that Rudolf "Fats" Wanderone called home and the location of "The Great Pool Shoot-Out." The Call review says R.A. Dyer's "story telling makes it seem as if he, and the reader, were there while everything was happening. His in-your-face style, along with his obvious passion for the subject matter, make it easy for anyone--no matter how familiar with the game of billiards--to be drawn into the plot laid out before them."
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Read more about the book at Bank the Nine Blog. The author's comments: "Dyer is a phenomenal researcher with a true talent for description and extracting dialogue from his interviewees. All of which add to give the reader a richly textured sense of presence."
photo courtesy of
Lyons Press