McGoorty is master billiards writer Robert Byrne’s racy account of the life of Danny McGoorty, a billiards champion of that bygone era when cue artists were often scam artists and pool rooms were held to be dens of iniquity. Hustler and hobo, womanizer and fashion plate, McGoorty was at once eyewitness to Capone’s Chicago and the feats of greats like Willie Hoppe and Willie Mosconi. In an all-American voice at once sarcastic, profane, humorous, and chock full of colorful lingo, he relates his colorful and seedy life and times with a unique style and brio.

“Pool hustler, hobo, alcoholic, ladies’ man, and tournament player... McGoorty was a Runyonesque character and a first-rate raconteur. The result is a memoir that should rack up many readers, even among those that don’t know a cue from a swizzle stick.”
   PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

“At times funny, occasionally filthy, here and there exaggerated, but it’s an entertaining story of a guy who doesn’t try to pass himself off as any sort of giant at the table: just a fellow who loved the game.”
   WILLIE MOSCONI, NINETEEN-TIME WORLD STRAIGHT POOL CHAMPION

The Broadway Books Library of Larceny
Luc Sante, General Editor

McGoorty is master billiards writer Robert Byrne's racy account of the life of Danny McGoorty, a billiards champion of that bygone era when cue artists were often scam artists and pool rooms were held to be dens of iniquity. Hustler and hobo, womanizer and fashion plate, McGoorty was at once eyewitness to Capone's Chicago and the feats of greats like Willie Hoppe and Willie Mosconi. In an all-American voice at once sarcastic, profane, humorous, and chock full of colorful lingo, he relates his colorful and seedy life and times with a unique style and brio.