The Pinball Compendium
1982 to Present
by Michael Shalhoub
review by Zube (zube@stat.colostate.edu)
Created:  Feb 19, 2010
Updated:  Feb 21, 2010
http://www.stat.colostate.edu/~zube/pinballcompendium.txt

_The Pinball Compendium, 1982 to Present_ is a quantum book, one that
is both bad and not bad all at once.  Open the book, however, and the
waveform collapses; whether the book is bad or not bad depends on where
you cast your glance.

This third and final volume of the series walks the reader, pinball by
pinball and designer by designer, though the years 1982-2005.  The
pictures of the backglasses and playfields are nice, if a bit askew in
places.  It's actually rather weird:  a straight-on picture of a
playfield is often accompanied by a shot of the backglass from some odd
acute angle.  Still, the histories as told by the designers, artists
and programmers themselves are enlightening and nearly worth the price
of this ~300 page, $60 book.

Sadly, the mental cost of this book is staggering.  Here, go listen
to this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnZJKf_C4Rc

This 11 minute Symphony in Discord #1 is titled _Journey Through a
Burning Brain_ and is the audio equivalent of the rest of _The Pinball
Compendium_.  To wit:

* The author presents pictures and stories of himself and his family 
and challenges, nay, dares the reader to give a toss.

* He solicites comments from non-pinball people, such as "Ron Lee, who
is an inspirational humorist and global executive trainer known as 'The
Corporate Ninja'".  Whoopie Droopie, I can hardly stand the excitement.

* He talks directly to people, right in the freakin' text:

"I hope to see you back one day, Mark, doing what you have proved to
the world you are a genius at - designing pinball games." (p. 226.)

Funny, I didn't see a "Dear Mark" at the beginning of the book.

* He has a _Comments from the Gurus_ section in the Intro, a page and
a half of gushing comments about the first volume of the book.

* He gushes right back too: designers are legendary, leading and
pioneering.  Glad I didn't get my hyperbole meter fixed.  Also glad I
never ordered the sycophant-detection attachment either.

* I know for my money, I simply cannot get enough pictures of Roger
Sharpe or Mark Ritchie.  I imagine the author looking at each picture,
sighing deeply, slamming the book shut, kicking his feet up and down
on his bed while breathlessly exclaiming, "He's so dreamy!"

* It took the author all of three sentences at the beginning of
chapter one to proffer a factual error.  This has to be some kind of
record. (The author claimed that Space Invaders was a Namco game, when,
of course, it was a Taito game.)  There are other errors, almost
certainly many others.

***

What caused my brain to end up as a pile of ash is the author's writing
style.  Here is a typical example of how quotes are introduced:

"I asked artist David Moore if he did the artwork on the glass that
was used in the film [Rocky]:"

Somehow, I didn't think that Wink Martindale or World B Free or a
prickly pear or Ytterbium was asking the question, since they aren't
listed as authors.  Why on earth does the author insist on reminding me
that he is the one asking of the questions?  It's insane.  Yet this
casual, ever-present egoism is continued on page after ganglia-snapping
page.  Worse, many of the answers are just as bad:

"Yes, Michael, I did the artwork on the backglass used in the movie."

No kidding, the "Yes, Michael" is really part of the quote.  Oh editor, 
where art thou?  Sheesh.

***

If I had a wish, I'd want this book in an online, editable form.  I'd
excise all the stupid and the specious and the vacuous, all the "I
asked ..." and the "I had the pleasure of ..." and the "Yes, Michael
...".  Then I'd print out what was left and enjoy the distillation
and throw out the mash.

As it stands, _The Pinball Compendium_ is yet another book where the
focus isn't the topic presented, it's the author.  Without him
inserting himself into nearly every page, it would be a fine book
indeed.