Off-the-Wall, Close-Up Look at Famous and Unusual Golfers
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There's an old saying in business about how if you want to really find out about someone . . . play golf with them. Golf is such a difficult game for most people that it brings out character and personality flaws pretty quickly. A book built around that concept would have been amazing. We all see a lot of golf coverage and some people have the chance to attend tournaments. But it's a long-distance observation, and most people look about the same from a distance . . . except for how fast or how slowly they play, facial expressions and whether they sling their clubs or not in frustration. Not surprisingly, Who's Your Caddy reveals a lot about the on-course and off-course characteristics of Tommy Aaron, John Daly, Donald Trump, Tom Lehman, David Duval, bettor Dewey Tomko, Jack Nicklaus, meditation and health expert Deepak Chopra, Casey Martin, comic Bob Newhart, LPGA star Jill McGill and blind golfer Bob Andrews. The professionals come off best in these revealing portraits. If the book had focused on the character of golf stars and legends, this would have been at least a four star book. However, Mr. Reilly's attention wandered off into famous venues (all the stars you can see at Bel-Air), the sexual characteristics of those involved (John Daly's equipment and the sexual habits of LPGA golfers and caddies), Bob Newhart's comedy routines, the humiliations of being Annika Sorenstam's sister, Deepak Chopra's advice for feeling warmer on cold days and caddy language . . . among other random destinations. In addition, he decided to play the role of caddy to get close to the golfers, and provides way too much detail about how incompetent he was at his task. I also found the book to be flawed by a flip sense of humor that sometimes offended my taste. For those who like random gossip, this will be a four or five star book . . . because that's basically what the book is. I enjoyed the sections on John Daly, Tom Lehman, David Duval, Jack Nicklaus, Casey Martin and Bob Andrews. If you decide the read the other sections, be prepared for a lesser quality experience with occasional laughs . . . depending on your sense of humor more than the author's writing. As I finished the book, I realized that it annoyed me that Mr. Reilly took up caddying without really trying to learn how to do it. He started at the Masters with no experience and didn't do very well. He didn't seem to improve much . . . even with experience. I thought he showed a fundamental disrespect for his craft, the game and for the golfers he served by taking this approach. Thinking about my reaction, I thought about the responsibility we all have to do our best to serve others when that is our task. I'll try to do it much better after reading this book.
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Off-the-Wall, Close-Up Look at Famous and Unusual Golfers
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There's an old saying in business about how if you want to really find out about someone . . . play golf with them. Golf is such a difficult game for most people that it brings out character and personality flaws pretty quickly. A book built around that concept would have been amazing. We all see a lot of golf coverage and some people have the chance to attend tournaments. But it's a long-distance observation, and most people look about the same from a distance . . . except for how fast or how slowly they play, facial expressions and whether they sling their clubs or not in frustration. Not surprisingly, Who's Your Caddy reveals a lot about the on-course and off-course characteristics of Tommy Aaron, John Daly, Donald Trump, Tom Lehman, David Duval, bettor Dewey Tomko, Jack Nicklaus, meditation and health expert Deepak Chopra, Casey Martin, comic Bob Newhart, LPGA star Jill McGill and blind golfer Bob Andrews. The professionals come off best in these revealing portraits. If the book had focused on the character of golf stars and legends, this would have been at least a four star book. However, Mr. Reilly's attention wandered off into famous venues (all the stars you can see at Bel-Air), the sexual characteristics of those involved (John Daly's equipment and the sexual habits of LPGA golfers and caddies), Bob Newhart's comedy routines, the humiliations of being Annika Sorenstam's sister, Deepak Chopra's advice for feeling warmer on cold days and caddy language . . . among other random destinations. In addition, he decided to play the role of caddy to get close to the golfers, and provides way too much detail about how incompetent he was at his task. I also found the book to be flawed by a flip sense of humor that sometimes offended my taste. For those who like random gossip, this will be a four or five star book . . . because that's basically what the book is. I enjoyed the sections on John Daly, Tom Lehman, David Duval, Jack Nicklaus, Casey Martin and Bob Andrews. If you decide the read the other sections, be prepared for a lesser quality experience with occasional laughs . . . depending on your sense of humor more than the author's writing. As I finished the book, I realized that it annoyed me that Mr. Reilly took up caddying without really trying to learn how to do it. He started at the Masters with no experience and didn't do very well. He didn't seem to improve much . . . even with experience. I thought he showed a fundamental disrespect for his craft, the game and for the golfers he served by taking this approach. Thinking about my reaction, I thought about the responsibility we all have to do our best to serve others when that is our task. I'll try to do it much better after reading this book.
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Very entertaining
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I found this book a joy to read ! Besides stories about interesting individuals and players book is filled with interesting details about lives of caddies and their work that you could never have thought of. Book is definately funny and I receommend it to anyone interested in taking a peek into lives of Golf pros.
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