Editorial Reviews: |
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Without question the most successful English player of the modern era, Nick Faldo has won just about everything in golf - except the press and public affection being dished out to less worthy men. You don't need to read deep between the lines of "Life Swings" his new autobiography to understand that Faldo recognises how far his success has been shadowed by an often rocky relationship with the media. "Putting the record straight" would have been a good alternative pun for the title of this book. The trouble with being a hugely focused sportsman like Faldo, who finds the press intrusive, distracting, malicious and moronic, is that your occasional guileless attempts to address the situation are pretty much doomed to failure. Again and again, looking back on decades at and around the top of his sport, Faldo recalls how he has been misreported, misrepresented and misunderstood. To his credit, there is more bemusement than bitterness in this alternative commentary on his career, and he admits culpability once or twice too. All told the duality - what the public saw, and what Faldo saw - offers a unique perspective on some of golf's biggest moments. There are plenty of jokes too, and stories from 'inside the ropes' concerning the great and small of the professional game, told in an easy going style. It would not be stretching it too far to say that Faldo comes across as something of a natural wit, and even if some of his tales have the well-worn quality characteristic of someone who has doggedly approached the chore of regular public speaking, there are enough genuine chuckles to make this a hugely pleasurable read. --Alex Hankin
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