News From R.A. Dyer

R.A. "Jake" Dyer wrote me this morning with news of a new website he's created called poolhistory.com. The site is a home for all of his pool-related writing, complete with links to his books, a blog as well as links to other pool websites. Of note is an extensive list of blogspot sites he's created that are dedicated to various players. Also, there's a must-see video from Johnston City, Illinois. Most importantly, Dyer has just written a new book titled "The Hustler & The Champ." In short, the book is about Minnesota Fats and Willie Mosconi. According to his website:

The Hustler & The Champ tells of both men’s hardscrabble march to greatness, of their bitter decades-long rivalry, and finally of the televised shoot-out that revealed pocket billiards to millions even as it exposed the deep contradictions within all of organized competition. Through the 1920s, the Great Depression, and the resurgent 1960s, R.A. Dyer follows the lives of both men and tells the story of America’s conflicted love affair with the sport of rogues.

If Dyer's book "Hustler Days" is any indication, his new book will be an excellent read. 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. Dyer, also a columnist for Billiards Digest, is based in Austin, Texas, where he is a state capital reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "The Hustler & The Champ" is due out in October and can be pre-ordered on Amazon by clicking here.

Those looking to whet their appetite until October can look at another one of Dyer's contributions to the sport. He appears in a documentary called "Swimming With Sharks: The Art of the Hustle" that is included on the new two-disc collector's edition DVD of "The Hustler." The new DVD has four featurettes not included on the "Special Edition" DVD. They are "Life in the Fast Lane: Fast Eddie Felson and The Search for Greatness," "Milestones in Cinema History: The Making of The Hustler," "Swimming with Sharks: The Art of the Hustle," and "Paul Newman: Hollywood's Cool Hand." There is an interesting excerpt of an interview with Paul Newman from one of the featurettes that can be seen here.