Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 dry british humor August 22, 2008
The British or should I say the English have a biting and laconic wit. This book is a primer for the method of carving up the opposition without being overtly rude. The reader will appreciate the sardonic and subtle manner of the art of the riposte.
 What depth! January 31, 2007
I agree with the majority of reviewers here, but I think you have to be an intelligent reader to appreciate it. For example, on page 20, in golf the author discourages distracting activities while opponents are playing, but you could disturb opponents, especially musically competent ones, while you yourself are playing, "by constantly whistling a phrase with one note - always the same note - wrong." In the footnote he actually writes the musical notation of a suggested phrase, the horn motiv from Wagner's Ring, with the second note changed from an A to a D# with a glissando (sliding up to the high note). I laughed out load before I even tried to play the phrase on the guitar. I realize that some won't see the humor here, but what incredible depth in the descriptions of these tactics!
 Humourous, but bounded by time and culture... December 29, 2006
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I first bought this book, thinking it would be along the lines of Sun Tzu meets Frazier...I wasn't disappointed, but the '50s writing style is not fluid to read
Buy this perfect little book June 5, 2006
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I came across this at some rummage sale, and once I started reading it I was instantly hooked on Potter's dustbowl-dry wit and bought all his other books. Each is outstanding, but this is still the best. For the uninitiated, this has nothing to do with playing games; it has everything to do with attitude, games people play with and against one another in life, and poking fun at our egos and self importance...and the egos and self-importance of others. There's no explaining Potter's humor - you either love it, or you don't get it at all. I love it. Even the 'diagrams' are absolute screams. Only Wodehouse was as funny or funnier than Potter.
An Excellent Treatise September 10, 2005
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This tome offers a complete introduction to the theory and practice of gamesmanship. Though some of the ploys are outdated, if properly executed, these gambits will most certainly put the gamesman in the one-up position. The coverage of countergamesmanship, while sparse, is essential reading for gamesman at any level.
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