Product Description

When Alex Higgins' first manager, John McLaughlin, bestowed the nickname "Hurrican Higgins" on the young snooker player he had no idea just how apt it was to prove over the next 30 years. This is the story of a man who had everything to play for but now has to play hard for anything he can get.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #807455 in Books
• Published on: 2000-10-19
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 208 pages

Customer Reviews

a poor book about a great player
I'm not going to mess around - this book is total dross. It is poorly, poorly written and provides virtually no insight into the subject. The 250 page book covers the first 20 years of Higgins life in about a page and half, the following 100 pages are made up of a recanting of snooker game scores from 1972-80, the rest of it is made up of red-top newspaper clippings. The only worthwhile points in the book are the thoughts of friends/fellow pro's which are interspersed throughout the book - but they only serve to highlight just how dull and bleak the rest of the book is.
This biogrpahy is lazy, dull, unimaginative, mind-bendingly mediocre...i could go on - but why bother? Higgins deserves a lot better than this.

At last, after many years, Alex's life stripped bare. Great
There have been two other books on Higgins but nothing like this. For all his greatness and genius, the Hurricane caused untold hassle throughout his career, long before TV took over snooker. But he also enthralled millions and, as the author says, everyone wanted to play him for the sheer excitement. It's a must-read for all snooker fans, especially Higgins devotees. The adventures he got up to behind the scenes were, for the most part, new to me, and I thoroughly enjoyed the book - after taking ages to hunt it down. Why on earth did it not get more publicity?

The Missing Points
Whilst the book was generally accurate it told all the stories that most Higgins fans already knew but still brought a smile to my face reading episodes from the past. What I feel the book lacked was the more important facts in Alex`s career. The WPBSA victimised Alex for years with the objective of removing him from the game knowing the only way to do so was by removing his ranking points. This they did over a backstage incident, whilst Eric Cantona karate kicked a fan on nationwide television and got a ban on full pay. There are too many injuctices to mention but instead of protecting the interests of snooker the WPBSA ruined thier game as snooker has slowly died since the enforced demise of Alex. The book made no mention of the misfortunes endured by Alex such as being ripped off for tens of thousands by the crook Howard Kruger or the death of his long time manager and soul mate "Saint" Dougie Perry just as Alex was sufferung with his own health. I have known Alex for 10 years and have seen a lot of things first hand and the only way the whole truth will ever be known to the general public is if Alex decides to write his own book, this time he could blow the top off what remains of the game he made. Good luck to you Alex.