The Book of Mah jong: An Illustrated Guide

By Amy Lo

Book Overview

Master the exhilarating game of Mahjong with this introductory guide. Originally played with cards, and then piece carved from ivory or bamboo, the Chinese game of Mahjong or "Mah Jongg" is well over... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0804833028
• ISBN13: 9780804833028
• Release Date: May 2001
• Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.82 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.5" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Classic Mah Jong

There are two excellent books, about the same size and illustration value, which focus on the Classical game, not the myriad of foreign add-ons with their complex & peculiar hands: this one and The Happy Game of Mah-Jong (Paperback) by David H. Li, native Chinese mathematician and scholar (translator & editor of the fine Anelicts of Confucius with its priceless, concise, notes). These fine books together make a superb set. Amy Lo writes with the modern feminist (a misnomer, to be sure) "social statement" English, "he and/or she", & c., ad infinitim, but this affectation does not spoil the book. Miss (Ms., Mrs. ?) Lo and Mr Li cover the same traditional game from different perspective which, together, offer the reader a stereoscopic view which aids understanding. The classic game is complex enough in the motion of congenial sociality without desperate recourse to "special hands" Western variations which became popular in the 1930s with the various coffee clutch set.

Good guide

This book describes most of the basic combinations for Asian style Mahjong and I have used it with several classes. There are a few problems that should have been edited but are easily corrected. I like the book because it explains the rules and scoring of Mahjong and provides pictoral references of dealing, set up of walls, and scoring hands.

A Must Have...

...if you intend to play the game the way the majority of the people on the planet play it. Oddly this is the only book readily available in English that does so. She could do a better job explaining the seemingly arcane scoring system, but for the most part this was a much appreciated addition to my library.

Good addition to the Mahjongg library

This book has excellent graphics. Good introduction to the 3 variations of the game without all the complications added by Western players using the American/Jewish or Officers Wives clubs.

Good but can use some tweaking

A unique book which covers traditional Cantonese, Shanghainese, 12-tile (13th-wild), and Taiwanese variations of mah jong. Scoring of hands are described in the translated English as well as the equivalent Chinese dialect (through Chinese characters and pin yin). Most other books address play and scoring using Western or Japanese standards, where as this book best describes the game that is played by my family.Diagrams are useful in explaining the hands, but unfortunately in some cases the diagrams are misplaced in the layout and not labelled properly for best clarity.The book is in paperback now. I hope that it sells well enough to garner a second edition.