Product Description
The Know the Game series is firmly established as the leading introduction to a huge range of sports. For years they have been the first step into a new sport for many people, children and adults alike. The series has now been relaunched in a new format and a modern design - making the best even better. The aim has been to make the books more accessible, and they are now packed with colour photos and illustrations, top tips and interesting facts. Each book contains everything you need to know about the sport, including equipment, rules, techniques and training tips. There's even information on how to find a club and meet new people to play the sport with. And having been written and endorsed by the sport's professional body, you can be sure that you are getting the best information available. ... Read more

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A plainspoken writer of consummate wryness, grace and humor, the Egyptian author chronicles the lives of a polyglot Cairene upper crust, shortly after the fall of King Farouk and thoroughly unprepared to change its neo-feudal ways...This is the best book to date about post-Farouk Egypt. --Los Angeles Times ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Great novel
This book is the best Egyptian novel of the 20th century, and anyone interested in the country should read it. The story itself is entertaining and well-written and it is incredibly useful in understanding the cosmopolitan Egypt of the early 20th century and its slow decline. The English-educated, socialist offspring of a very wealthy and well-connected Coptic Christian family in love with a Jewish girl is the protagonist and that alone indicates how the book itself is an extension of Ram's own internal conflicts.

One of the best obscure novels I know
BEER IN THE SNOOKER CLUB depicts Egypt in the tumultuous 1950's through the eyes of Ram, who is one of the more distinctive and conflicted characters I have recently encountered in fiction.Ram is an educated, well-connected Copt, probably in his mid-twenties.His best friend is Font, another Copt.Ram and Font spent four years in England and are obsessed with English civilization and culture, but they also despise British colonialism and hypocrisy and they participated in guerilla fighting against the British during the Suez War.Ram's long-time girlfriend is Edna, who is from a Jewish family that has lived in Egypt for five generations.Ram empathizes with the fellaheen and is intellectually outraged on their behalf, but he also mingles with the vapid dandies who play croquet and bridge and his favorite pastime is beer in the snooker club.Political activism or a comfortable life? I leave that for the reader to find out.

BEER IN THE SNOOKER CLUB was published in 1964.It was the first novel by Waguih Ghali, and when he committed suicide in 1968, it became his only novel.It surely is one of the finest "single-work" novels there is.

It is difficult to tidily characterize BEER IN THE SNOOKER CLUB.It is as ambiguous as the life it so clearly depicts.While scathing in its denunciation of the British in Egypt, it is equally condemnatory of Nasser, his betrayal of socialism, and his concentration camps and atrocities of political oppression.Egypt has not yet become Islamicized, but for Ram and Font (two Copts) and for Edna the handwriting on the wall is pretty clear.Several of the political sentiments of Ram (or Ghali, as I suspect they are the same) are interesting in retrospect.For one thing, the novel has no truck whatsoever with pan-Arabism.And it also voices a "let-live" attitude towards Israel: "Imagine a third of our income being pumped into an army to fight a miserable two million Jews who were massacred something terrible in the last war."The Egypt of BEER IN THE SNOOKER CLUB is at a stage of political, economic, and religious uncertainty or indecision.One of the central issues of the novel is, "What is an Egyptian?"And the same uncertainty or indecision extends to Ram's personal life:what to do with himself, whether or not to live attached to the purse strings of his rich aunt, whether or not to marry, and who?

There are a few missteps, but by and large the narrative technique and writing are accomplished.The novel is alternately comic and bitter, satirical and angry.Ghali is quite worldly and knowledgeable about all sorts of Western historical, political, and cultural matters, which are liberally sprinkled throughout the novel.He also is empathetic and politically astute.Consider this excerpt, which is representative of the depths this superficially light and breezy novel at times plumbs:

"If someone has read an enormous amount of literature, and has a thorough knowledge of contemporary history, from the beginning of this century to the present day, and he has an imagination, and he is intelligent, and he is just, and he is kind, and he cares about other people of all races, and he has enough time to think, and he is honest and sincere, there are two things can happen to him; he can join the Communist Party and then leave it, wallowing in its short-comings, or he can become mad.Or * * * if he is unconsciously insincere, he may join one of the many left-wing societies in Europe, and enjoy himself."

Like Ram, Ghali probably was culturally conflicted . . . and isolated.And likely one of the factors contributing to his suicide was that other Egyptians did not regard him as one of them.Whatever, BEER IN THE SNOOKER CLUB is a very worthy legacy.Its scandalous obscurity probably is due mostly to the fact that it resolutely steers clear of any of the vogue ideologies of the late-20th-Century.A novel written in English by a Copt that does not espouse pan-Arabism simply won't be promoted as one of the finest modern works produced by an Arab, although BEER IN THE SNOOKER CLUB surely is that.Waguih Ghali and the novel deserve a wide audience, and my applause and gratitude to New Amsterdam Books for keeping it in print.

A fantastic read-world literature at its best
Waguih Ghali, a member of the extended family of the former UN Secretary General, wrote this book in English, a language in which he was entirely at ease.In that, and in many other ways, thisbook is autobiographical.It traces the lives of several characters, but especially a couple of young men of the Egyptian upper class, at a time of great change in the 1950s.England is leaving Egypt, finally, in 1954.The Egyptian army has overthrown the royal family and instituted a republican system that both embodies the nationalistic and progressive hope of many Egyptians, and also becomes increasingly repressive.The characters, Ram and Font, are Egyptians who are Anglophone and upper class, and so are out of touch with the new order.How they deal with that order, with their identities, and their coming of age is the story of book.
At some level, this book is about Egypt, and it is a useful book in that sense.But it is also a wise, funny and beautiful read: a book that most readers will devour in one sitting and be left wanting more.This was Ghali's only book, but it is a real memorial to him.

If you like Camus...
Ram is a 20-something Coptic Egyptian without much direction, yet an opinion on just about everything. Ghali writes very much in the style of Albert Camus (i.e. existentialism; meandering plot) and at times is quite humorous ("It's better to have loved and had a venereal, then never to have loved at all.") The story has a little of everything: politics, love, drama. However, you have to know a little about 20th century Egyptian history/politics to get some of the references (Nasser, Aswan Dam, etc.) It's pretty easy to get through other than that. ... Read more

Product Description

Snooker is the central theme here, but, like a virtuoso jazz sax player, Richler spontaneously riffs on a wide array of topics. These range from the state of the Irish economy to anti-Semitism in sports to the greed of today's athletes. In typically Richlerian style, he even jabs at icon Wayne Gretzky in a digression that castigates champions past their prime as strangers to dignity: "He will do TV promos for just about any product that will have him, except, so far, Tampax." Such is the author's mastery that the reader happily joins the game in all its dimensions without feeling the least bit snookered. --Kerry Doole ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Chalk up one for Richler!!
Richler has given us a great read on snooker. It will be a long time before we see the likes of another as good on this from the viewpoint of a Canadian fan.Snooker has suffered at the hands of the establishment the same fate as Country Music,Comics,Reading and virtually all entertainment media.
Being about the same age as Richler;a lot of my youth was "mis-spent" ,but not regrettably,in the local Snooker Academy.That was where one learned early that "you paid for the lesson but the experience was for free".Richler brought back many menories to me of watching and talking with the greats during the Competitions at the CNE in Toronto in the early 80"s.At that time Alex Higgins was the character that created the fan interest and support.The establishment would just as soon he didn't exist.Perfection and dullness crept in.
Now in an effort to get the fans and money back;we are being fed 9-Ball.What the establishment never learns is that entertainment belongs to the fans;and they will make the choice of what they want and will support.

A lively first person expose of memorable characters
In On Snooker, Mordecai Richler here considers his love of the snooker game and his observations of the men and women who share his enthusiasm. Enjoy a blend of autobiography and game insights which examines snooker tables from Canada to Dublin, in a lively first person expose of memorable characters and games.

A North American View of Snooker
This book will be of intense interest to snooker enthusiasts and should hold some appeal for most billiards players and all Richler fans.A lifelong snooker fanatic, Richler begins with rich anecdotes from his childhood in Montreal, reviews the early history of cue sports, then devotes several chapters to coverage of the British snooker tournament scene, with special attention paid to Stephen Hendry, Alex Higgins, Cliff Thorburn and Kirk Stevens.He concludes with a discussion of sports themes in recent fiction.Some of the quotes and anecdotes will be overly familiar to the devoted snooker follower but entertaining for the more casual reader.Richler's final work is a welcome addition to the recently sparse snooker literature. ... Read more

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'Crowood Sports Guides' provide sound, practical advice that will help make you a better player whether you are learning the basic skills, discovering more advanced techniques and tactics or reviewing the fundamentals of your game. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

The best of its kind
I've read many other books on how to play snooker, yet none of them surpasses the quality of this one. Clive Everton is acclaimed to be the best journalist of the sport, and he undoubtedly lives up to his reputation. This book covers every aspect of the game, starting from its history, the equipments, the very basics, tips and practice routines, and even hints for match plays. The book is filled with helpful diagrams and numerous pictures of the world's top players. If you're searching for snooker books, this is the only one you'll ever need.

Áîëüøå êíèã ïðî ñíóêåð - áîëüøèõ è ìàëåíüêèõ!
À âñå-òàêè ÷èòàòü íàòîÿùóþ êíèãó ïðèÿòíåé ÷åì ñ ìîíèòîðà:)

a nice guide
the book is very helpful for both beginners and experienced players. I recommend it for anyone interested in snooker and I can say that beginners will make a great use of the book. ... Read more

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The world's number one snooker player, Stephen Hendry, has won four UK, six world, six Masters titles and a total of 25 world ranking titles, making him the most successful snooker player of all time. In this text, he explains how it is done: from basics, like how to hold the cue correctly and how to form a bridge, through building big breaks and escaping from impossible snookers, to advanced aspects of positional and safety play. Containing personal anecdotes, Hendry recounts his own experiences: weaknesses in his game and how he improved them; mistakes he has made and how he has corrected them; and, perhaps most important of all, how he learned to stay cool under tournament pressure while maintaining total belief in his ability to win. Hendry's accounts of the dramatic moments in his career are both interesting and educational; for example, he has total recall of how he picked himself up psychologically to come from 14-8 down to win the 1992 World Championship final 18-14. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

It helped me to win 3 surberburn champs!
I don't really understand why this book is not rated as high as it should be, but what I know is this book helped me to win 3 unprofessional champs in my surberb.
Even if you never played snooker before, this book will get you on track pretty quickly.
I recommand this book to everyone who loves snooker.

Not too many beginner's tips on training & cue ball control
If you are a once-a-week 3-hour player like me, you might want to pass this book. While there are numerous advanced techniques and some excellent diagrams, this just might not be the book to take you beyond an advanced-beginner's level.

The book sorely lacks details on techniques & practice tips on cue ball control, which distinguishes the novice from the advanced. The author relies on your 'natural ability' to master the cue ball and hence misses out on a very very important aspect of mastering the game. ... Read more

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A series of books designed to help the reader get more out of their chosen sport or game. Suitable for the active participant and the passive enthusiast. Each book is packed with information, photographs and illustrations which explain thecore skills, tactics and rules of the game. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

enjoyable read for snooker fans
I think the book is of interest to people who are fond of snooker.It concentrates on the greatest players and you can follow the history of the game at the same time.It is solidly based on documents and it is entertaining .You can argue with the authors about who is the greatest,but everyone is entitled to their own opinion.I bought it not knowing what I would find inside and I was not disappointed. ... Read more

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Gordon Burn's overview of the snooker game, its wheeling, dealing, rivalries and jealousies. ... Read more

Product Description
A Billiards & Snooker CompendiumA Billiards & Snooker Compendium is the most extensive work on the literature of billiards and snooker ever published and took over two years to compile. It contains bibliographical information on over 650 books, a detailed description of each book's content, tips on identifying different editions, notes on scarce dustjackets, plus the estimated values of 1st editions. These values have been calculated using a variety of well respected sources.This essential reference book is easy to use, is clearly laid out, and includes both an author and title index. Each book has its own unique reference number and entries are fully cross referenced. It will appeal to all collectors of billiards and snooker memorabilia, book dealers and collectors, fans of both sports, and those simply wishing to add a few books to their sports collection.About the authorGary Clarke has been playing and watching snooker for over 25 years and has a great knowledge and deep affection for the game. He is also an avid reader and book lover and this work combines two of his most passionate interests. The author currently lives in his home town of Ipswich and this is his first work of non-fiction. ... Read more