A fun, insightful, funny look into the world of pinball. Part history lesson, part modern day memoir. Great read.

PINBALL WIZARDS by Adam Ruben is about the history of pinball told through the eyes of a avid pinball fan, coupled with the writer's adventures in competitive pinball and his reflecting on why people have been drawn to pinball over the years.
It's clear that Ruben is a pinball fanatic and enjoyed learning about and writing about pinball. He delves into it's beginning, how it was considered a tool of gambling for a long time and banned many places and Ruben carries used through to today. He covers the ups and down in popularity in the latter half of the 20th century and considers that despite the game being minimized almost to extinction several times, it keeps coming back and tries to figure out why that is. He walks the reader through the major players and major events and even recounts his attempts at the biggest pinball tournament in the country. Throughout, Ruben never takes the writing of the book too seriously; through a random funny moment or recognizing a funny play on words that are born out of pinball and therefore the book is all the more endearing and fun to read.
I think everyone has played pinball at least once in their lives, and therefore everyone could enjoyed reading PINBALL WIZARDS. I know that I after reading PINBALL WIZARDS, I want to find the nearest pinball parlor, arcade, or bar with a pinball game and play a few rounds.

Although this book was not what I expected (a history of pinball) and was a little to stream-of-consciousness for my liking, It offered an interesting glimpse into one man's obsession with pinball and how he placed it ahead of even his own wife's needs.

Pinball Wizards is an unapologetically personal diary of a pinball enthusiast. While there are some historical aspects added, really this is about Ruben and his love of the silver ball game/tournament play. Which can be both good and bad in this instance: if you are interested in reading a diary of what it's like to be at a professional tournament when your wife doesn't agree with the pasttime and you don't make it into the top placement, you'll find the book enjoyable. But if you are looking for a diverse and in depth discussion of pinball, you won't find it here.

What this does bring to the table is a wonderful personality and an engaging writing style that pulls you in. From discussions of Mayor LaGuardia destroying Pinball machines in wartime New York ("LaGuardia is a douche!") to encounters with the likes of Gary Stern and the Sharpe Brothers. Although tournament pinball runs through most of the book, the past/present/future of pinball are topics lightly touched on as well in a way that makes you want to keep reading. It's like having the most fun guy in the room telling you about his pinball knowledge/experiences - but without a filter.

Problematic for me is that the book jumped around all over the place (yes, bouncing around like a pinball). One paragraph will be about Bagatelle pinball and then suddenly we are discussing leaving the kids behind to go to a tournament. Then a page later suddenly we are talking about the invention of solid state and rise of arcades. Then a background on arcade owners will morph into suddenly discussing licensing issues with movie tie-ins. I desperately wanted some order and to read more about the history/facts/characters than whether or not his ball drained fast on the fourth tournament machine of the night. And I wanted all the tournament reporting to be in one section so I actually felt like I was there - instead of being bumped out of the mood/action constantly with random pages of other information.

There was, naturally, a lot missing. Heavy discussions on Stern and how it operates but nothing on e.g., Atari entering the scene in the 1980s, European makers such as Sonic Pinball, what drove so many of the creative changes in the golden age, the first to have ramps, first to have multiballs, etc. Ruben covers the first 'extra ball' briefly but then it's off to another topic altogether. I felt at the end that I knew a lot more about him than that I gained any appreciable information about pinball. From the structure of the book, I think he started to really get into the history but then realized it was too weighty a topic and so stopped with the history after the 1940s and then just moved on to the personalities and characters. That's a shame because the 1980s was a great age to really discuss and is completely missing here. Bally and Williams stories are particularly missing, other than to discuss a few of the more famous/respected designers/employees who were laid off but found employment back in the industry eventually.

Most interesting was the end where the current state of pinball was covered. From start ups that succeeded and failed (often taking preorder or investor money down the drain with them) and the innovative changes coming to pinball in the future (interactive with smart phones, etc.). This includes tours/interviews with the guys creating competition for Stern, who was the last man standing in the pinball manufacturing field for several years.

There is a list of resources for more information on the back. By the end of reading this, I realized I would have loved to read a more curated, heavily edited, but very Ruben thorough discussion of pinball rather than his tournament experience. He has a great voice with some smile worthy bon mots continually interspersed throughout. But I'd love a good editor to put it all into a semblance of order rather than the very random topic jump that was so distracting here. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

What a fun and interesting book on Pinball games and their fans. I have always enjoyed pinball machines but there is so much I did not know about them and this book taught me a lot. The author's experience in competitions was very interesting and even though he did not win he still showed a lot of energy and love of the games. I highly recommend this book.