The single greatest book on modern advertising ever written. The word "bible" is overused to decribe great books, but this is worthy of the tag. Rosser Reeves virtually invented the USP--unique selling proposition--the basis of all great marketing and selling. It is more relevant today than when it was written 40 years ago. Read this book and you'll know more than 90% of the ad execs in NY who make $600,000 a year.

As a student of advertising I read Reality In Advertising and learned more about the nuts and bolts of effective advertising than I learned from four years of college or any other source. The writing was succinct and the examples well chosen and revealing. I can't recommend it highly enough for anyone interested in the subject.

The video vampire is one of the most common errors in advertising. Trying to be cute and sheek is often given more weight than the advertising message.

This is one of the better books on playing pool...and I'll tell you why.

First, the book is filled with useful information that appeals to both beginner, intermediate, and expert pool players. For beginners, it covers stance, bridge in a concise and no-nonsense way with diagrams. Yet the book doesn't belabor these important yet simple fundamentals. For intermediate players, the book describes in simple terms the concepts of english, throw, leave, etc... And for experts, there's plenty of tips on straight pool, etc..

But what makes the book stand-out from the concept is the PRESENTATION. 99 pool shots ranging from the simple to the complex, spanning every concept from english, throw, bank shots, etc are presented. Since reading the book last week, I have seen over 25 of these shots in my games and used the techniques presented.

But all this aside...I'm giving this book 5 stars for 1 reason -- it works! It improved my game. I think it'll improve your's...

Reading this book is sure to improve your game. It worked for me!

If you are looking for a good book for beginners, this isn't it. This book is all about making a good pool player better. It assumes a basic knowledge of pool has already been established. If you're a beginner, check out Ewa Mataya Laurance's "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Pool & Billiards." It's a great straight-forward book to get you started right. But if you're already a pretty good pool player and want to add some great shots to your game, I highly recommend "The 99 Critical Shots in Pool."

The book is not without it's drawbacks. This is a 220 page book. Of that, 50 pages are devoted to The Official Rules and Glossary of Terms. An additional 25 pages skim the basics of shooting form, etc. That leaves only 145 pages for the meat of the book, the 99 critical shots. Of the 99 shots, 22 are devoted to break shots for straight pool. If, like me, you play only 8-ball and 9-ball, then this book should be called "The 77 Critical Shots in Pool" because you'll never use the other 22. So, for me, this 220 page book has only 107 useful pages.

The format of the shots section is great. Each shot includes a diagram of the whole table layout, a diagram of the cue ball showing exactly where to strike it to impart the draw, follow or English, and a text description of the shot. As others have pointed out, the text refers to a black ball (the object ball) and gray balls (all other balls), yet they are indistinguishable in the diagrams; they both look black. This is an annoyance, but does not keep you from understanding the author's intentions. Between the text description and the lines indicating the ball paths, I was always able to determine which ball was the object ball.

If I still had my own pool table, I would have this book sitting right next to it. I'd study a single shot in this book and then practice it until I had mastered it. Then, when I'd mastered that shot, I'd proceed to the next shot and so forth. That would be the most effective way to use the book. Unfortunately, I have to go to a pool hall to practice. I don't know about you, but I don't really want to be seen reading a book about pool at the pool hall. So I have to study several shots and then practice them there from memory. Obviously, there's no substitute for practice. This book shows you WHAT to practice.

Having told you that I only found 107 pages (77 shots) useful, you might get the impression that this book's not worth buying. Nothing could be further from the truth. Of those 77 shots, probably at least half were shots that I had either never even considered or had never fully mastered. You only have to add a few new shots to your game to make this book well worth the price. Buy it!

As a poolplayer, and a personal friend of Ray Martin, I wholeheartedly recommend this book to beginners, intermediates, and professionals. Obviously, a book that shows the top 100 or so billiard shots will have to cover some basic stuff. Having said that, if you know every shot in this book, you should be playing in the circuit. I've been playing for over 30 years, am a member of the BCA, and was taught to play by Ray Martin in his pool hall in Clifton, NJ...and I didn't know all these shots. If you want a book to improve another aspect of your game (high runs, safeties, etc), there are better books, but this is the bible for shotmaking.

I guess a little revolution every now and then is a good thing, because the "advice" dispensed in here mainly belongs in the dustbin of history.

Just finished the book (which took me a couple of hours) and I have to say it was an interesting memoir of the great admen of all time. The book pinpointed certain questions and tired to find some correlation between the greats (and I think it succeeded in some ways)

But do not let the title of the book fool you to believe that it will help you in any shape or form in becoming a finer copywriter. In fact, the book will most likely only offer you a good read on a Sunday afternoon.

On a particular note, the interview with Reeves was the most interesting part of the book. A worthy buy indeed but do not expect to become a super copywriter after or you will be very disappointed.

There's pleanty of useful info here to help you write better copy - look for the inherent drama of the product, if in doubt ask the manufacturers why they make it, do your research, keep stuff simple. You just have to look for it. Great photos too.