“THE POWER” by Phil Taylor with Sid Waddell (Book Review)

Our Review of “The Power” by Phil Taylor & Sid Waddell

Phil Taylor‘s autobiography “The Power“ has been expanded and repackaged for its paperback release. In interviews, Taylor always says that ‘Sid wrote the book,‘ and there is no doubt that Waddell has pretty much documented what The Power had to say.

I didn’t think I would like the book that much; I have to admit that I am a fanatic. However, Waddell’s writing and Taylor’s commentary are good enough to hold interest.

Before darts, Phil Taylor’s life is interesting if sketched over fairly quickly in an opening couple of chapters. He came from a life of poverty and, through being at the right place at the right time, found himself being sponsored by Eric Bristow. Taylor could have produced a dull book and been very nice about everybody, but he is open and frank about his opinions of other darts legends such as Eric Bristow and John Lowe.

What is surprising when reading the book is just how much Taylor has achieved in such a short time. He has stamped such a multi-title winning dominance on the game its hard to believe that his first world title win was only 14 years ago.

Taylor is also very frank about the split in the world darts scene, and as you’d expect, he paints the BDO firmly as the villains. The struggle and the foundation of the WDC (and then the PDC) make great reading and show a real triumph over adversity for the world’s top dart players of the time. This sensible passage is then negated by childish comments about respected darts legend Bobby George. The pair may swipe at each other in the pages of Darts World, but Taylor’s remarks in the book are just plain silly.

On the downside, the run-throughs of Taylor’s major tournament participation over the past decade are little more than a plod. Doubtful whether ‘The Power’ had too much input into this narrative, and the commentary on each tournament is littered with Sky commentary quotes from Sid Waddell & co about how great Taylor is. These tournament reviews are quite lengthy and a poor second fiddle to a still long overdue ‘Best of The Power’ DVD.

Final thoughts on “The Power” By Phil Taylor

However, the importance of this book to darts can’t be overstated. It’s the first book on darts to be published in a long while, and it goes a long way to chronicling the modern professional game, which of course, has been dominated by Taylor. Overall it is an enjoyable read and essential for any fans of Taylor or the sport.