All About Darts: America's most complete and up-to-date book on the game of darts

by Ivan Brackin, William Fitzgerald

The basic rules and traditions of dart playing as well as the many different games and strategies for winning play are discussed

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

Reviews

[Space · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now here's a book that was a lot more interesting than it had any business being. And I just happened onto it. I was at Camelot, our friendly home-town bookstore, dropping off some books for Kelly, the owner. He's a friend of mine. As I was standing there talking to him, my eyes happened across the top shelf where he has game instructionals and whatnot. World of Warcraft Manual, Magic: The Gathering How-To, et cetera. Then I saw this one. I was like, "Dude I love darts. This looks all right." So Kelly gave me the book, knowing it was my birthday.

Anyway, I took it to my dad's house and read about half of it in one sitting, then finished it this morning on the bus to work. I have to say, it was a very entertaining and insightful book. It starts by telling you how darts came to be a sport. Where it was invented, the many changes the board and setup went through, and how it developed into the most popular pub game in the world.

The authors throw little factoids into the middle of pages, and write with a tongue-in-cheek kind of narrative that makes the reading a lot more enjoyable than just a manual about darts. They cover all the popular variations of the game, how to score, how to stand, how to throw, how to feel good about your beer gut (it's an advantage, they say) and many more quips and anecdotes. I couldn't put it down. Even though the book is 25-some-odd years old, it was still relevant for the most part. And they praise and respect the culture of the game more than just the game. Like appreciating the fact that beer and darts go hand in hand.

Obviously these guys aren't writers. They're dart slingers. So the grammar and whatnot wasn't great. It wasn't atrocious, but an editor could have helped there. And the way they made it fun, talking directly to the reader made it all worthwhile. I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes darts, even just in passing. It's very interesting, and I even learned a thing or two that I think will help improve my game. I also recommend to those who have a dart board in their home, keep a copy of this book nearby. It has a bunch of great games in it, plus a page of helpful checkout combinations.

[Ensiform · Rating 3 out of 5]

A primer on the game, from equipment to stance to throwing grip to traditions to team management. Also a glossary of dart terms, most of which are probably regional and long since fallen into disuse, as well as some interesting new games (the one I like best is Scram). There’s a lot of data, to be sure, but the authors write with a light (and extremely sexist) touch, so there’s an enjoyable textual flow throughout. A fair manual on the game, anyway.

[AndrewP · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a former competition level darts player I picked this up. Some interesting history of the game etc but not much else I did not already know.