A Good Walk Spoiled Abridged

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful book about life on the PGA tour
Review: This engaging book covers life on the PGA tour from the perspective of several tour players, not necessarily the top names on the tour. At the time this book was written, Bruce Fleisher was an aging journeyman on the tour, having won only once in his career. Feinstein chose to make Fleisher one of the golfers he covered. I was engaged in following the day to day life of this son of holocaust survivors and was therefore delighted when several years later, Fleisher became the top money winner on the PGA senior tour. He is currently a superstar on that tour. This book is golf writing at it's best. I recommend it

Rating:
Summary: A Good Opportunity Spoiled
Review: The author missed a tremendous opportunity to write a masterpiece. The access to players, inside information and details of the PGA Tour was very impressive. Unfortunately, the stories were disconnected and often incomplete. It seemed as if the author had a difficult time maintaining a theme or train of thought. While this is understandable for information collected over a long period of time, it made the book fragmented and difficult to read.

Rating:
Summary: A great look at a most difficult game
Review: In this book, John Feinstein takes the reader inside the PGA tour over the course of a year. From tournament to tournament, including all four majors, he presents the players and both their torments and glories on tour. Some of best writing is about the specific players; players like Nicklaus and Palmer, who have been the stars of golf for so long. But Feinstein also features the stories of players such as Jeff Sluman and Mike Donald, who haven't had as easy a time in pro golf. What I truly didn't know anything about was the Nike Tour and Q-School, golf's "minor leagues", and the golfers' yearning to make it back on tour. A very well-written and exhaustive look at a most difficult game.

Rating:
Summary: Solid, insightful, inspiring
Review: I'll begin by saying that I don't find Feinstein a particularly elegant writer. Like so many of the golfers he admires, Fienstein is a bit of a grinder. I prefer the golf essays of Herbert Warren Wind and John Updike. That said, I immensely enjoyed this book for its detailed and often inspiring look at the golfing and private lives of several players on the Tour. If the book had a central point, I thought it was that playing professional golf is just about as difficult a way to make a living as there is. The physical, mental, and emotional strain is almost unbearable and the lonelieness and self-reliance very fatiguing. Like another reviewer, I did not find the book too long, but too short: I wanted to read about more players and about more seasons.

Rating:
Summary: Wanna know what the tour is really like?
Review: This book will make you understand the pressures of the tour. It makes the reader "feel" like he/she is the one going through the paces. All in all, an excellent book.

Rating:
Summary: A great read
Review: This book offers great insight about the PGA Tour and the mini-tour players. Well written and a joy to read and re-read. This books tells the complete story from the eyes of tour stars and the promising nobodies. Feinstein certainly doesn't pull his punches writing about the more troublesome or egotistical players.

Rating:
Summary: If you enjoy watching/playing golf, you will enjoy this book
Review: If you are a lover of golf, either on the course or on the couch, you will love this book. The way Feinstein blends the stories of the nobodies and the superstars is captivating. The period it covers is the 1994 PGA season, so it doesn't have current stars Woods and Duval in prominent roles, but I think the book is more valuable because of that. You learn about the lesser known players and all the quirks of the tour only an inside observer could see. Sporting fans will find this book excellent, but I can see that other people might become bored with the details.

Rating:
Summary: Modern Golf Writing at its Best
Review: I have trouble sympathizing with the reader who complained of this book's length. Though it is true that you can't judge a book by its cover, you certainly can tell how thick it is! In my opinion, 500 pages was too few. I could have handled that many more, Fienstien comes close to capturing the essence of the mystery of golf ... and why so many of us are captivated by this frustrating little sport.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Walk Spoiled... A GOOD Read Even For Non-Golfer
Review: I bought this book for a friend of mine. And in a weak moment (no books to read in the house) I picked A Good Walk Spoiled up. I had anticipated being bored to death... as I am not a golfer and pretty much golf illiterate. What I found was a whole new world I had been missing... and honestly confused by. I have many golfing friends and I never understood what the fascination was all about. From the time Feinstein described Davis Love's urge to throw up in the first few pages... I was hooked and not due to my attraction to regurgitation. The actual angst these guys put themselves through was amazing to read about. Their home lives and what inspired them to live on the road 40 some weeks out of the year in search of that elusive hole in one made me appreciate the sport in a new way. 500 pages later I was surprised not only that I had hung in there but also that I throughly enjoyed the experience. I contribute my positive trip into golf land to Mr. Feinsteins clever turn o'phrase.

Rating:
Summary: Yeah, a bit too much.
Review: I could have done with a bit less. I am into golf, but with nearly 500 pages, this was a bit tiring in the end.