Rating: 
Summary: Mostly for beginners...
Review: It would be unfair to give this book 3 stars, but I think 4 stars may be a bit too high from some perspectives. This book is mainly for beginners, but I don't think intermediate or advanced players will get too much out of it. The book is well-written and is a good read for history, stories, and factoids about the sport, but as an instruction manual I was left very wanting.Although the latter part of this book includes information on english, banking, and drills, it never really educates the reader on how to look for cluster combinations, throw combinations, multi-ball caroms, etc. which come up frequently in other games besides eight-ball. This book only teaches the theory and leaves it up to the reader to work out much more than the book explains. For a beginner I will definitely recommend this book, but for the intermediate or more advanced player I can't honestly say this book will help them other than providing them with a few drills and trick shots. Like the title says, it's a "Complete Idiot's Guide" and will help the "complete idiot," but for someone who has already read some other books and already knows about draw, follow, and english, this book won't provide any more insight into the game.
Rating:
Summary: Mostly for beginners...
Review: It would be unfair to give this book 3 stars, but I think 4 stars may be a bit too high from some perspectives. This book is mainly for beginners, but I don't think intermediate or advanced players will get too much out of it. The book is well-written and is a good read for history, stories, and factoids about the sport, but as an instruction manual I was left very wanting. Although the latter part of this book includes information on english, banking, and drills, it never really educates the reader on how to look for cluster combinations, throw combinations, multi-ball caroms, etc. which come up frequently in other games besides eight-ball. This book only teaches the theory and leaves it up to the reader to work out much more than the book explains. For a beginner I will definitely recommend this book, but for the intermediate or more advanced player I can't honestly say this book will help them other than providing them with a few drills and trick shots. Like the title says, it's a "Complete Idiot's Guide" and will help the "complete idiot," but for someone who has already read some other books and already knows about draw, follow, and english, this book won't provide any more insight into the game.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent book! Has helped my game tremendously.
Review: My wife has been an avid pool player for years and recently got her dream of a lifetime - a pool table at home. I, on the other hand, used the strategy of leaving as many balls as possible in the way of my opponent so they would scratch on the eight ball. I received a copy of Ewa's book less than a week ago. So far, I've worked through part three and portions of part four. Already, I'm regularly sinking up to three shots in a row. I even beat my wife three out of four games last night!! Ewa's instructions are easy to follow and well illustrated. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to improve their game.
Rating:
Summary: Helps you become a much better player!
Review: Once I started playing pool regularly, I picked up some tips off websites to improve my play. But this was the book that really made my friends peel the label of 'beginner' off my back! It covers all the basics like the stance, cue-holding techniques, eye-hand coordination and follow through before moving into aiming and shotmaking. And once there, the 'ghost ball' technique described really works and the well-done illustrations and photographs make the techniques easier to understand and try out.
Rating:
Summary: A good book about billiard
Review: Probably it's not the best tutorial but it's still a good book. It tells you about billiard culture, people and history and gives you a big picture of that world. I think the goal of this book is make you interested in billiard and get you motivated to learn more. It also teaches you some basic stuff but not very deep. So it's exactly what the name says - a good starting point.
Rating:
Summary: The new "Standard Book"
Review: Robert Byrne's great book, "The Standard Book of Pool & Billiards" has long been the book to recommend to beginners. The "Complete Idiot's Guide to Pool & Billiards" will replace it as the definitive book covering all areas of the sport. As a Christmas gift, send a copy of this great book to everyone on your list that is a fan of this great sport.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Book
Review: This book covers everything from history to buying a table, from the kick shot to the masse shot. It includes lists of players and their awards, resources, trick shots, and lots of other useful stuff, plus funny or amazing stories. I must have read it 10 times, and I'm still not tired of it.
Rating:
Summary: Hardly an Idiot's Manual
Review: This book is for people who look to become accomplished pool players, not just regular shot-makers. From equipment selection to table manners and to the actual mechanics of shot making and practicing, this is one compact reference that packs a solid punch. The extensive treatment of basic concepts can immediately jumpstart the beginner's game, if not make him sound like a pool sage (if he plays as good as he speaks). This is hardly an idiot's manual. On the contrary, this is a thinking player's reference, a beginner's bible and a proficient player's "chicken soup" if his game has gone south!
Rating:
Summary: A great book for beginning players
Review: This book really helped me out. I played pool a lot when I was younger but really didn't know the mechanics of how pool "works". This book helps explain how to make shots, what type of cue to buy and how to use english to make difficult shots look easy. I would recommend this book to all beginning players. There is also a good section at the end for link on the WWW.
Rating:
Summary: A great book for beginning players
Review: This book really helped me out. I played pool a lot when I was younger but really didn't know the mechanics of how pool "works". This book helps explain how to make shots, what type of cue to buy and how to use english to make difficult shots look easy. I would recommend this book to all beginning players. There is also a good section at the end for link on the WWW.
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