5 comments about Improve Your Mah Jong.

1. Having a basic knowledge of the game I was looking for a book to improve my hands. This book covers special hands and has great illustrations of each hand which are clearly drawn and easy to read. This book also provided an overview of the differences between the Western and Chinese games. In other books I've found the sections on scoring to be tendious and off-putting, however, this book describes it clearly and gives examples. In summary: A great graphical book for a game that is quite graphical!



2. After five years of playing this game weekly with the same group of four, we thought we'd covered all the strategic moves possible. This publication has made each of us players rethink our playing styles and open our minds to thinking differently about the game of Mah Jong.

   This book is an uncomplicated read for such a complex game. We eagerly await the next publication!




3. This book is the best tool I have read to improve upon the game. It provides a valuable tool in the scoring card.
   No doubt more poeple would play the game with these well-writtem and truly helpful books.
   It is a great companion to the authors' other works, especially Mah Jong Illustrated. SLZ.



4. If you play typical American Mah Jongg this book may not be the best for you.



5. This books' version on Western Maj Jong is not one I have heard of. It seems to assume that a player can make up any hand that matches his/her tiles. I was looking for strategies to win with the game that goes with the card that changes yearly. This book has no reference for "Jewish" maj.

5 comments about The Book of Mah jong: An Illustrated Guide.

1. This book has excellent graphics. Good introduction to the 3 variations of the game without all the complications added by Western players using the American/Jewish or Officers Wives clubs.



2. ...if you intend to play the game the way the majority of the people on the planet play it. Oddly this is the only book readily available in English that does so. She could do a better job explaining the seemingly arcane scoring system, but for the most part this was a much appreciated addition to my library.



3. This book describes most of the basic combinations for Asian style Mahjong and I have used it with several classes. There are a few problems that should have been edited but are easily corrected. I like the book because it explains the rules and scoring of Mahjong and provides pictoral references of dealing, set up of walls, and scoring hands.



4. There are two excellent books, about the same size and illustration value, which focus on the Classical game, not the myriad of foreign add-ons with their complex & peculiar hands: this one and The Happy Game of Mah-Jong (Paperback) by David H. Li, native Chinese mathematician and scholar (translator & editor of the fine Anelicts of Confucius with its priceless, concise, notes). These fine books together make a superb set. Amy Lo writes with the modern feminist (a misnomer, to be sure) "social statement" English, "he and/or she", &c., ad infinitim, but this affectation does not spoil the book. Miss (Ms., Mrs. ?) Lo and Mr Li cover the same traditional game from different perspective which, together, offer the reader a stereoscopic view which aids understanding. The classic game is complex enough in the motion of congenial sociality without desperate recourse to "special hands" Western variations which became popular in the 1930s with the various coffee clutch set.



5. This is one of the better books on mah jong, but I'm still left with a few questions that need to be cleared up where she wasn't specific enough. Other than that, great pictures, very clear diagrams and good explanations of Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taiwan, and 12-tile Mah Jong. And it's written by a native Mah Jong player, not just a westerner who's been there once or twice; someone who has been playing it for her whole life in China.

4 comments about The Mah Jong Player's Companion.

1. This book has COLOR pictures of all the hands I knew and then some! The group I taught to play fell in love with this book, although it has slowed down play as everyone looks up new hands to try. I love all three of Thompson & Maloney's mah jong books. This is truely for the die hard fan of the game who is always looking for a new hand as well as for the slightly advanced beginner. Seeing the hands helps. The book also breaks the hands into a short list used to start with and then a longer list of even more beautiful mah jong hands.



2. I thought this book would help me understand the American version of Mah better and it did not. It lists many hands and the hands are titled ... but his means nothing to someone who only plays the American version who purchases a new card each year. That said, I am sure it is my ignorance in not knowing what was meant by the title...I am sure this book would be helpful to those playing the game perhaps known as Chinese Mah...and has information on scoring that I didn't know existed. Again, this is probably due to my ignorance of the game but I would never have purchased it had I known it was different than the American version. In a nutshell, had I read the reviews I would have known this and not purchased the book!



3. I thought that these books would be helpful to me as a beginner. I assumed that they were for the form of Mahj played here in the US or western. Unfortunately, the vocabulary is not familiar so I will probably try to resell them on Amazon to someone where they will be helpful.



4. Have tried to order this book, but Amazon no longer carries it...PLEASE BRING IT BACK!

2 comments about Mah Jong, Anyone?: A Manual of Western Play.

1. Playing the form we play in Honolulu, this book covers all the bases and gives thorough explanations of play, scoring and strategies. It is a "must have" for our group. Mah Jong!



2. a great book for beginners or as a refresher on mah jong for the western player.

1 comments about The Great Mahjong Book: History, Lore, and Play.

1. Written by globe-trotting mahjong enthusiast Jelte Rep, The Great Mahjong Book: History, Lore, and Play is a thorough guide to the history and play of mahjong world wide - illustrated throughout in full color, which is particularly helpful when it displays sample mahjong tile groups. The straightforward text covers both basic and advanced mahjong rules for gamers of all skill and experience levels, and an index allows for quick and easy reference. Anyone seeking to learn mahjong, improve their skills, or especially, play the game while visiting another nation, is enthusiastically recommended to immediately add a copy of The Great Mahjong Book to their personal library.

5 comments about Mah-jongg: From Shanghai to Miami Beach.

1. Like Mah Jongg tiles themselves, this book is a visual and tactile joy. Nice case binding, heavy weight paper, tons of great photos. Content is excellent too with lots of history, trivia, and succinct instructions for play. This would be wonderful gift book. My only criticism is that dates in the photo captions are sometimes clearly wrong. I think the authors decided, "when in doubt, label it ca. 1923"



2. I love this game, been playing for three years now and am hooked. I would recommend this book for anyone who wants a fun read that gives you not only a glimpse of the basic concepts, but more of a history of the game and its place in society. Excellent gift for that Mag-Jongg fanatic in your family or group of friends.



3. I have never played Mah-jongg, although I'd like to learn one day; however, I found this book beautiful and thoroughly enjoyable. There's a little something for everyone.



4. This book is a delight to read and exposes the reader to a lot of snippets of information about the game, its origins, the different ways it is played etc. It is easy to read and I thought the recipes were a great idea. Any newbie or a long time player would enjoy this book. It lists many resources, does explain the American version well and is just a little jewel of a book.



5. "Mah Jong: From Shanghai to Miami Beach" is a wonderful little book about the history of Mah Jong. The author gives a history of the game and how it evolved into a popular game in the U.S., especially amongst Jewish women of all ages. It gave me a new appreciation of the game and made me want to get out my inherited mah jong set and call all my friends together to play. I highly recommend it to anyone who has ever played the game or who had a mother or grandmother who played or who has a daughter who wants to play. The book makes a wonderful gift for the game lover.

5 comments about The Game of Mah Jong Illustrated.

1. This book does a good job of trying to explain a hard subject. Easy to follow pictures and examples. Need to watch it being played to really understand.



2. After a shipping problem at the beginning--the set arrived several weeks later than it was supposed to--I am very pleased with what I received. It is everything that I hoped it would be including the great aluminum box it is packed in.



3. The reviewer who was confused about the counting of tiles for each player at start of play and use of dice obviously is challenged. The counting is very easy. I sometimes get confused on who should be what "wind" or methods of goulash but building the wall,and starting the game is easy after you do it a few times. The terminology is clear and easy if you have ever played Rummy as a child. Thompson's writing is clear and easy for a novice.



4. I BOUGHT THIS BOOK BASED ON THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF PREVIOUS CUSTOMERS AND I MUST AGREE IT IS A GREAT BOOK, EASY TO FOLLOW AND FIGURE OUT THE PREMISE OF THE GAME. HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO START TO PLAY MAHJONG...



5. Excellent book to learn the game. Additional book, "THE MAH JONG PLAYER'S COMPANION" by the same authors, Patricia A. Thompson & Betty Maloney, is a great partner to this who want to learn more hands. I am HOPING THAT IT WILL COME BACK INTO PRINT. I ORDERED IT AND IT WAS BACK ORDERED, ONLY TO LEARN LATER THAT IT WAS NO LONGER AVAILABLE. PLEASE BRING IT BACK. We have a growing group of player's who use these two books exclusively! BRING IT BACK!!!

5 comments about The Red Dragon & The West Wind: The Winning Guide to Official Chinese & American Mah-Jongg.

1. I have been playing Mah Jongg for many years but have never seen a complete set of rules and scoring. It was very interesting to see these details in the book I purchased and I would hope, eventually, to contact Tom Sloper and discuss the rules and scoring that I have been using as compared with those he published.
   Henry Munday.



2. Excellent, thorough explanation of both American and Chinese styles of play by today's top authority. A-plus for content. However, shame on Harper Collins for the cheap ground wood paper. This is a book I'll want to keep for years, but will the pages will be brittle and yellowed when I pull it off the shelf in a couple of years? This excellent book deserves a better, more durable package.



3. Tom Sloper is my inspiration for learning Mahjong. Three retired friends and I attempted to learn the game on our own. Without Tom's online assistance and encouragement, we would have tossed aside a great source of entertainment and mental stimulation. I recommend "The Red Dragon & The West Wind" to anyone with an interest in Mahjong and strongly recommend it to anyone just learning. Tom is able to introduce the game and explain the intricacies of both the American and Chinese Official versions in a manner understandable to both beginners and advanced users. Not yet sold? You'll miss out on Tom's delicious sense of humor. Buy this one!!



4. This book contains good information. It is not an easy read and think it could be hard for someone new to Mah Jongg to follow. I recently read "The Beginners Guide to American Maj Jongg" and found it much easier to follow. The illustrations in the guide were easier to follow and I liked the author's suggestions for review of each chapter with questions and suggested practice much more useful. I would have liked both books to spend a little more time on strategies for winning. I think both books provide essentially the same information on American Maj Jongg, but if I were to just buy one I would buy "The Beginners Guide to American Maj Jongg". You can see my review under the other book, too. To be fair I was not interested in the Chinese version of Maj Jong and did not read that portion of "Red Dragon", which might be a reason someone else would prefer it.



5. I bought this book after purchasing a Mah Jongg set with a very slim rule manual. Mah Jongg is a very complex game, but after thoroughly reading through Tom Sloper's book I feel ready and excited to begin playing. This book is well laid out, with in-depth instructions as well as a section with brief descriptions to be used to quickly look up a rule while playing. It's obvious that he is an expert in Mah Jongg, fortunately for us novices he also possesses the rare talent to be able to break instructions down in a way that a novice can understand and retain.

5 comments about A Mah Jong Handbook: How to Play, Score, and Win.

1. The Mah Jong Handbook presents an amazingly clear method for approaching the game. The book is easy-to-read, but deals with every aspect of the game in detail.

   To get the most out of the book, I recommend taking the time to work through the example exercises yourself (before going on to the analysis discussion.) Once you've gone through the book this way, you'll pretty much know everything that an expert player knows. The only thing left is to get in enough playing time to put the theory into practice.

   In addition to the game aspects, the book discusses the accompanying rituals and etiquette, as well as many variations on the rules.




2. A good introduction to the game for beginners, with strategy advice that will be useful to more experienced players as well.
   
   Whitney explains clearly and concisely, using easy to understand diagrams. She even manages to explain Mah Jong's rather complex scoring system, which can be a bit off-putting for beginners.
   
   Her inclusion of the differences between Japanese and American rules is also quite helpful, although I've found that as with any game, some of the rules and terminology vary from region to region.
   
   All in all a good book for those looking to begin playing Mah Jong, particularly those in Japan or with Japanese friends.



3. Well writen and easy to understand. Particularly for a novice at Mah-Jongg.



4. This book covers all the questions anybody would have about this complex game. I've searched all over the internet for answers but most rules and gameplay written on line seemed like poorly translated rules from Chinese or whatever with many mysteries left unturned. This book is great and with minimal reading gets you playing in no time.



5. I am not a Mahjong playe. My wife is. I wanted her to have a reference book on American version. I thought this would be good. Little information available on books contents and objectives except the usual hype about how we cannot get along without it. The book was very difficult to figure out. I still don't know whether or not it can be used for the american version of the game. It was poorly written and organized. I sent it back and paid for the return shipping. I will want more details when I buy another. Maynard

5 comments about Beginner's Guide to American Mah Jongg: How to Play the Game & Win.

1. I have been playing American Maj Jongg for over a year. This book provides well written easy to follow explanations and instructions for novice as well as others who have some experience. The author provides quizes to help the reader check his understanding at the end of each chapter. The best parts of the book for me were the exercises he provided for individuals to practice such skills as chosing what hand to try to play from the card. You can't go wrong with this book if you want to play American Maj Jongg (National or American).



2. Don't buy this book! You will be terribly frustrated and unable to learn from it. This is why: Those of you who have ever played Mah Jongg know that there are three suits represented by three colors: green, red, and black. This book is packed full of illustrations depicting mah jongg hands such as: 333 6666 9999 DDD. In the book, this hand is described as having three suits(colors), that is, some of these numbers/letters are in red, some in black, and some in green. It is absolutely essential that the three suits/colors represented in this hand be visable in the illustrations. THE ARE NOT! The red is clearly red, but the black and green printed numbers are not distinguishable from each other. (In just a couple of the many, many illustrations, the "green" is an ever so slightly lighter shade of black -- when you hold the book under a 150W bulb and use a magnifying glass, but 99% of the time, you just see black for both black and green with no distinction.) You simply cannot learn to play mah jongg if you can't see all the colors represented by a hand. This is the craziest thing I have ever seen in a book that puports to teach beginners to play the game. This is really a shame since the concept of the book is a good one for absolute beginners and for novices like me. Since it can't possibly accomplish what it sets out to do, I wish I could give it "0"stars. I will be returning the book.



3. Due to a printing error, a few copies of this book had some color problems of the kind that P. Radcliffe mentions. The good news is, if your copy is problematic, you may return it to the publisher for an exchange. There's no reason to miss out on this book--it really makes the game fun, even for a true beginner like me!



4. Having played Mah for about five years, I purchased this book as a gift for some folks who are just learning the game...and I am teaching them. I thought the book was excellent in all respects. The book is easy to read and in reading I once again realized what great teachers I had because I learned the game by osmosis. Thanks Elaine Sandberg!



5. This is an excellent book for beginners and great for those who have been taught by others but need more insight into the correct procedures of playing the game. The print is large, the color of the tiles is clear, and the format is such that each step is clearly understood. Exercises are given to help a person experience what is written. At the end of each section is a quiz to determine how well the material was absorbed. I highly recommend this book for an easy explanation of the game and the rules.