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Good snooker book recommendations?

Postby The Herminator

Can anyone recommend any good snooker books, autobiographies, biographies, histories, etc? I'm not interested in improve your technique ones (I don't need it because I'm flying in practice). The local bookshop has Jimmy Whites autobiography for £3. I'm tempted to get it but would like some feedback before making that kind of financial commitment.

Re: Good snooker book recommendations?

Postby PoolBoy

Stuart Pettman : As Sometimes Seen on TV

Really insightful book on a professional snooker player, who is/was nowhere near the top of the sport.

I read this about 5 or 6 years ago, and his revealing book (often humorously) demonstrates how much of a struggle it is to be on tour when ranked even as 'high' as 80-odd in the World Rankings.

Re: Good snooker book recommendations?

Postby SnookerEd25

Just dug out from my bookshelf 'Pocket Money' (subtitle : Bad-boys, Business-heads & Boom-time Snooker) by Gordon Burn published in 1986 (my revised copy 1987) which is a fascinating read, & kind of prescient for these times as it focuses on Barry Hearn's initial involvement in early to mid-80s Snooker. I have read it a few times, but not for probably the best part of a decade, so am looking forward to comparing and contrasting the 2 'Barry Hearn eras' if you like.

Haven't been too taken with player's biographies or autobiographies i must admit; there are, of course, plenty relating to Alex Higgins. I would recommend most highly 'Eye of the Hurricane' by John Hennessey for the best overall picture, Bill Borrows' 'the Hurricane : the life & turbulent times of Alex Higgins' is a little too sycophantic for my liking, but Tony Francis' 'Who was Hurricane Higgins?' offers a broader & more original take on the subject.

As other player's biographies go : 'Griff' by Terry Griffiths was a lot more enjoyable than i was expecting and probably the best of the rest (that I have read anyway), Jimmy White's 'Behind the White Ball' was also entertaining, but steered away from the subject of Snooker a bit too much for my liking, and ended up reading like a long episode of 'Minder' (for those of you who remember that).

And to throw a wildcard into the mix, I rather enjoyed Mordecai Richeler 'On Snooker', a Canadian sportswriter & Stephen Hendry obsessive who covers nicely the Canadian boom period of late 70s to late 80s, then into Hendry's dominant era; he does have a tendency to go off-topic somewhat (given the title) & ramble on about Baseball & Ice Hockey, but overall I would recommend it as a different take on the game.

Re: Good snooker book recommendations?

Postby The Herminator

Thanks for the suggestions, they are really useful. I want stuff that is informative and maybe a bit edgy rather than bland and sentimental (Clive Everton rather than Dennis Taylor if you will). Certainly not interested in the inoffensive "My Story" Christmas present fodder so some of these should fit the bill. Cheers.