A unique collection of short stories about pool, billiards, and snooker by such authors as Leo Tolstoy, A. A. Milne, Walter "The Hustler" Tevis, and Andrew Vachss celebrates the games' colorful characters, high skill, and high stakes. Original. George Plimpton, who knows a few things about sports writing, once observed that the smaller the ball, the better the writing, which tucks pool in there neatly between baseball and golf. With an anthology that racks up short stories by writers including Aleksandr Pushkin, Leo Tolstoy, Saki, John O'Hara, Wallace Stegner, and A. A. Milne (he was evidently as familiar with the corner pocket as he was with Pooh Corner), Byrne, a top pool player and prolific writer himself, runs the table with that small-ball theory. His compilation is consistently compelling; these 31 stories--some dark, some comic--all take their aim at the human condition, and hardly miscue. Starting with an 1829 short story by James Hall, Byrne covers 163 years of pool and billiards literature. There are tragic stories, comic tales, and even a Damon Runyanesque pastiche in an sf setting (Bill Pronzini's "The Hungarian Cinch"). As in most anthologies, the quality of the writing is variable. There are minor works by major literary figures (Leo Tolstoy, Alexander Pushkin) and famous works by lesser talents (Walter Tevis's classic "The Hustler"). Wallace Stegner's portrait of a dysfunctional father/son relationship ("The Blue-Winged Teal") and an Andrew Vachss tale of a hustler's revenge on his gambler boss ("Exit") are particularly outstanding. A solid addition for any library that collects short fiction or has an interest in sports fiction.?Terry Madden, Boise State Univ. Lib., Id. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. The game of pool has suddenly become cool, especially among the self-proclaimed hip urban crowd. Interest in the game should translate into interest in this excellent anthology, but the worlds inhabited by these characters have little in common with the designer-jean lifestyles of contemporary players. In the mind's eye, these stories play in black and white, the air heavy with smoke and the players waiting their turns in deep shadows. Editor Byrne is a world-class player as well as an accomplished novelist and author of pool instructionals. Though the book is peppered with well-known names like Tolstoy and O'Hara, the very best tales come from lesser-knowns. Among them are Robert Abel, whose "One Up" delineates the pool player's place in a gambler's food chain, and Don Carpenter, whose "One Pocket" allows readers the vicarious experience of a hot run at the table. Also included is Walter Tevis' "The Hustler," perhaps the most famous pool story of all time. This unique anthology succeeds not on the basis of pool's current trendiness but on the high quality of its contents. Wes Lukowsky