Review Date: 10/1/2010

Unique photography, but text nothing to write home about:

While this is a perfectly serviceable, very basic beginners' instructional, like many before and after it, some written by notable pros like Lassiter, others not, the real draw of this book is its stop-motion photography. As far as I can tell (and I have an extensive cue sports book collection) this is the first book ever published featuring high-speed photography of billiard shots, though it is possible some British publications may have beat it to the punch. It's definitely the first U.S.-published work of any note to have such photos. This is a visually interesting collector's item. Those seeking a real manual should go with Byrne's New Standard Book of Pool and Billiards and its follow-up volumes, as well as Play Your Best Pool (Capelle) and its narrower sequels.

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Review Date: 4/8/2012

Helfer Arguedas's work is photographically brilliant, even inspiring, and well organized. He clearly knows his subject intimately. You could literally use this a "paper tour guide". But if, like most, you're not going in person, this is the next best thing to being there. It's is especially nice in that it artfully excludes all the tourists from most shots, except where it's pertinent to include them on purpose. (If you've ever been to a major site like this, you know how the throng of tourists sharply detracts from the immersion in the historical experience.) It will also be of great interest to students/devotees of pre-Columbian to immediately post-Conquistador archaeology, anthropology, history and architecture. The English isn't perfect, but educated and certainly serviceable, and the production quality is very high, with rich color on top-quality paper. Over 200 photos.

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