Books

The Hustler and the Champ: Willie Mosconi, Minnesota Fats, and the Rivalry that Defined Pool

Before TV cameras, Howard Cosell, and 20 million Americans, pool’s greatest champion would challenge its greatest hustler. The date: February 14, 1978. The stakes: honor, a legacy, the true meaning of a sport. R.A. Dyer, the award-winning author of Hustler Days, tells the improbable but true story of pool’s two most important players and of a single match that captured the public’s imagination like none other, before or since.

Purchase the Book on Amazon

Hustler Days: Minnesota Fats, Wimpy Lassiter, Jersey Red, and America’s Great Age of Pool

Follow along as Fats, Wimpy and Red—the fool, the poor-boy-done-good, and the hustler with a heart of gold—as their stars rise and fall. Complete with a glossary of pool terms, a list of tournaments, and profiles of other top players, this is the definitive book on pool’s glorious 1960s renaissance.

Purchase the Book on Amazon

Billiards, Revised and Updated: The Official Rules and Records Book

Every bar, tavern and pool hall should have a copy of The Official Rules and Record Book, from the Billiards Congress of America. This new edition includes a forward by R. A. Dyer and a separate introductory section from pool historian Mike Shamos.

Purchase the Book on Amazon

The Bank Shot and Other Great Robberies: The Uncrowned Champion of Pocket Billiards Describes His Game and How It’s Played

Rudolph Wanderone is part rogue, part philosopher, part sinner, and – if we’re not stretching the meaning of the term too far – part saint. He is the last of the old-fashioned high rollers, with a hundred-dollar bill in his handkerchief pocket and the guts to use it. The Bank Shot is the official autobiography of Minnesota Fats, written with Tom Fox and with a new forward by R.A. Dyer.

Purchase the Book on Amazon