Bridge books reviewed - 6

Bridge author/humourist David Bird tackles an almost new scenario with this book. Almost new in that one of his earlier books, "The Abbot and The Sensational Squeeze", does included a short section in which the famous Bridge playing Abbot spent some time as the host on a bridge cruise.
In this book "All Hands on Deck" we are introduced to a completely fresh cast of characters lead by the cruise host Mr Knight, generally referred to as Rupert Knight. As with Bird's excellent Robin Hood books, many of the hands are the work of Tim Bourke and the bridge content is excellent. The bridge hands described alternate between ship board duplicate sessions and on shore rubber bridge with an unlikely cast of characters enountered by the cruise passengers. This allows good variety and provides scope for the wit for which David Bird is highly regarded.

"Bridge Over Troubled Waters" is David Bird's excruciatingly funny sequel to the previous book, with brilliant true-to-life bridge on a cruise liner. David Bird is acknowledged as the world's best when it comes to humorous bridge fiction. As the bridge cruise traverses the Far East, the bridge organiser, Richard Knight, visits Patpong - the notorious red-light district of Bangkok, Thailand; and is enticed by three attractive Thai girls into a bridge game. Other hilarious adventures take place in a drug den in Hong Kong, in backpacker land in Bali, in a Shinto monastery in Kyoto, and in the Double Bay Club in Sydney. A mixture of top-class bridge, exhilarating narrative and a host of true-to-life characters.

"Bridge With a Feminine Touch" recounts the entertaining adventures of Debbie, a young Englishwoman who ventures into a local bridge club and progresses to international class. En route she meets some interesting men, mostly predatory, and forms a partnership with an equally lively woman her own age. The climax arrives when they play for a British team against the Polish women's team.

In "Bachelor Bridge: The Amorous Adventures of Jack O'Hearts " by David Bird and Simon Cochené, bridge-playing Jack O'Hearts searches high and low for the perfect - er, partner. He steps alphabetically and uncertainly from Anna to Bianca, Claire and Debbie...

"The Adventures of Jenny Mae, Bridge pro." by Martin Hoffman and Matthew Granovetter. In this highly entertaining book we meet Jenny Mae, an up-and-coming bridge professional living in New York city. Laugh and cry with Jenny Mae as she makes her way up the bridge-pro ladder, playing with hilarious characters such as Dizzy Agnes, Harry the Horse, Mr and Mrs Oilfield and her arch rival, fellow pro Pickles Peeker. The bridge hands are marvelous and teach the reader to think like an expert.

Matthew and Pamela Granovetter asked 100 world class players to submit favourite deals and they published 52 of them in "Tops and Bottoms". The format of the book is that after the play, each hand is reviewed by the co-authors by holding a post-mortem in an entertaining dialogue manner in their familiar style. Included are 52 real-life stories of tops and bottoms. How did Marty Cohn go down 8 redoubled in two notrump? Why did Andy Bernstein get a top for just following suit? How did Sidney Lazard bid and make four hearts on a 4-1 fit? What was the story behind the opening lead that cost $50,000.00? How did Dick Frey lose a Spingold match while travelling on the Long Island Railroad? Why did Paul Heitner get a bottom for bidding and making a doubled slam? Every tale of triumph or disaster is followed by a post mortem dialogue between Matthew and Pamela Granovetter. The hands are described by at least two experts as the greatest they had ever seen.

"Enterprising Tales" by Marc Smith successfully blends bridge hands and science fiction in an unusually clever tale. The author incorporates real-life bridge personalities as Star Trek characters to illustrate his bridge hands. The hands are not only amusing and inventive, but highly instructive and interesting from a bridge point of view. Highly recommended for science fiction and Star Trek buffs, as well as bridge players of all levels.

It is a little known fact that many movie directors are avid bridge players and over the years have assiduously tried to work bridge scenes into their films. Sadly many of these have ended up on the cutting room floor due to the lack of a similar enthusiasm for bridge amongst studio executives. Against all the odds many of these scenes have survived, and at great expense and after exhaustive research John Cook has unearthed a number of these forgotten treasures and in his book "Bridge at the Movies" he presents them in an effort to show you what might have been a part of one of your favourite movies.

"Our Man Godfrey: Tales From the Bridge Table" by George Rosenkranz is a love story involving two bridge players. A young English expert settles in Mexico City and coaches promising players; one of them is Meche, a beautiful and intelligent young lady. They mutually enjoy the good things of life including food and wine, as well as bridge, on the way to a life partnership. The book is packed with interesting deals and play problems.

Unavailable at Amazon.co.uk

"Shadow in the Bridge World" by Mike Dorn Wiss is a collection of thirteen short stories of bridge told with humor and panache played out in various locations: on a Hawaiian cruise, on a corporate jet, on a Rocky Mountain train ride, in an exclusive country club, and many other settings. For the testimonials about this book f rom exparts like Eric Kokish, Fred Gitelman, Mike Passell, Rhoda Walsh, Zia Mahmood, Edgar Kaplan, Alan Truscott and many more.

If one were listing pairs of totally unrelated subjects, bridge and the Trojan Wars would certainly qualify. But the two make a memorable combination in a new book by a New Zealander, ''The Bridging of Troy: Tales from the Trojan Tournament'' by Chris Ackerley. The author offers a hilarious revision of the Greek myths, explaining what Homer and Virgil omitted: that bridge games played a vital role in the story of Helen, Paris, Achilles, Hector, Odysseus and the rest. The punny presentation (''all leads roam to Rhodes'') allows the reader to learn, or relearn, the classical legends in painless fashion.