Beginner's Guide to American Mah Jongg

January 15, 2008
While its Chinese roots go deep, mah-jongg was an early 20th-century phenomenon that enjoyed popularity throughout Asia and in the West as well. There are many baffling variations of the game, depending on where it is played. The Japanese have developed automatic mixing tables, while the National Mah Jongg League has standardized the rules for play in America, where the game is experiencing somewhat of a revival.

Mah-jongg instructor Rep, a Dutchman (his book is translated from Dutch), casts a wide net to provide general background on the game and explain how it is played today and has in the past been played around the world. He tells us, e.g., that many of the mah-jongg tiles used in the 1920s were carved and decorated in China on cow bones imported from American slaughterhouses. Contrarily, Sandberg, a mah-jongg instructor who teaches in the Los Angeles area, focuses on play in this country. Both books are clearly written and well illustrated with numerous examples. Rep's serves a broader range of interests and so would therefore be best for libraries limited to buying only one of these books, but any American public library serving a community with active mah-jongg groups will want Sandberg's as well.Harold M. Otness, formerly with Southern Oregon Univ. Lib., Ashland

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