The Money-Whipped Steer-Job Three-Jack Give-Up Artist : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: You can't always go home again....
Review: As some have noted, Dead Solid Perfect was a dead solid hit among golfers and has been the standard by which other golf novels are judged. Unfortunately, the author who created the standard has failed to measure up to it. The story is mildly entertaining, but just not up to what we have come to expect from this writer. Having recently read The Green and A Mulligan for Bobby Jobe, I am aware of how good a novel can be woven about this enchanitng and maddening game. This isn't one of them.

Rating:
Summary: Not Jenkins' Best
Review: Being a Palm Desert-based author with my debut novel in its initial release, I absolutely loved Dan Jenkins' THE MONEY-WHIPPED STEER-JOB THREE-JACK GIVE-UP ARTIST. Perhaps I loved this satirical golf novel because I live in the Golf Capital of the World. Perhaps I loved this novel because we have more golfers and golf competitions than anywhere else in the world. Perhaps I loved this novel because I've known members of America's past Ryder Cup teams. Perhaps I loved this book merely because it is a fun and well-written work. It tells the hilarious tale of Bobby Joe Grooves, a journeyman touring pro, who'd love to make the Ryder Cup team. Bobby Joe has professional troubles and romantic troubles. He's even trying to write a memoir. Dan Jenkins' novel is a fun work, and I hope you enjoy it.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointment
Review: Dan Jenkins' new book..."Steer Job et al" was a major disappointment to me. The book was a slow starter, picked up pace early on and then ground to a halt.....It is basically a re-write of "Dead Solid Perfect" with a dash of golf History. Jenkins characters are slightly more urbane (hard to use that word on denizens of Ft. Worth Tx.)than those is "Dead Solid", however far less colorful. I have read every one of Jenkins' books and they usually have me rolling in the aisles, laughing so hard I have tears in my eyes. This book appears to be a rehash of some of his earlier "observations"....

Rating:
Summary: Worth reading if you like Dan Jenkins, but not his best work
Review: I like Dan Jenkins' humor a lot. He seems like a guy you'd love to spend time with and I have enjoyed reading all of his work I've read. And, I enjoyed this book. But, I can't say I found it to be close to his best work (I really liked Baja Oklahoma, among others). It just didn't quite seem like Dan's heart was fully into writing this one. It took me quite a while to finish reading it, even though it's a short book stretched across 261 pages. The characters weren't all that interesting and there wasn't really much of a story, so all I had to savor was the humor and use of language. That's enough for me to read it, but it needs more to be a 5 star book.

Rating:
Summary: Double bogey
Review: I started the book with great expectations and it continued to disappoint. I never got the point - mildly humurous but not really very interesting at all. After reading "A Good Walk Spoiled" and "My Usual Game" I was probably looking for more than Jenkins could deliver with this wandering tale of a year on the tour. His history of the golf architects and courses was the most interesting part of the book. I couldn't wait for the season to end.

Rating:
Summary: Really 2 1/2 stars
Review: I was generally disappointed. Dan is one of my favorite authors, but this is not Dan's best work. He seemed to have lost his spark on this one. I was very ready for a sequal to "Dead Solid Perfect," one of the funniest books ever written. But this one did not deliver. The golf history is interesting, but wears old. It seems that this effort might actually be a little too close to the boring truth regarding the touring life of a PGA tour member. The book goes from one tour stop to the next describing what everyone in Bobby Joe's party had to eat at the restaurant and describing what everyone was wearing. Then he describes every course Bobby Joe plays at and the history involved in its design. The humor is much tamer and not as funny as "Dead Solid Perfect." One note on the editorial review, probably just a mis-type, but his last book was 15 years ago, not 25. It was "Life its Ownself," a prequal to "Semi-Tough," and a much funnier book than this.

Rating:
Summary: The Money-Whipped Steer-Job Three-Jack Give-Up Artist
Review: maybe three good laughs in the entire book. uses terms as though they're everyday slang but i've never heard them. even after you figure out what they refer to, they're still not humorous! how many of you know what an"ess" is? well you won't fall on the floor, doubled up with laughter when they turn out to be the narrator's term for snakes. a lot of the same thru out the book. give me a fishin' book by gerach any day!

Rating:
Summary: Maybe a little over par...
Review: One of the most gifted sport commentators out there, Texan Dan Jenkins practically invented the golf novel with Dead Solid Perfect. Now, a decade or two later, Jenkins returns to the genre with the episodic The Money-Whipped, Steer-Job, Three-Jack Give-Up Artist which, in its rambling way, basically details a year on tour with an outspoken, somewhat befuddled pro golfer who, though a veteran of the game, has never quite become a star. With most of his money going to his two ex-wives (who are both wonderfully entertaining characters), the narrator spends most of his time telling anecdote-filled stories of golf history, detailing his fear of lizards (a potentially humorous motif that never quite pays off), and telling us of his rivalry with a European, superstar golfer who spends most of his time cheating on his wife and speaking of himself in the third person. Though the European golfer is a character that most readers have seen a million times in the past, his character is still crudely funny and the passages detailing his buffoonish vanity are amongst the book's best. Jenkins shines with his characterization -- though the characters are all somewhat shallow, Jenkins still creates vivid portraits of them and his dialouge gleams with a razor's edge. The narrator is, like Jenkins, from Texas and he tells the book's story in a laid-back, rather self-effacing drawl that makes for entertaining reading. However, plot-wise, the book never comes together and seems to wander rather aimlessly over the PGA tour. As well, if you're not a fan of golf, this book won't change your mind and Jenkins makes little attempt to make the book, with its litany of technical detail, understandable to those who might not be familiar with the game. Still, if you enjoy golf (like myself), this book is a pleasant little diversion. It won't change your life but it'll keep you entertained for a day or two.

Rating:
Summary: Huh? How many years? Really?
Review: Publishers Weekly says first book in 25 years! tbtswb123 in Midland says first in 15 years! Did a different Dan Jenkins write Rude Behavior in'98? Bubba Talks in '93? You Gotta Play Hurt in '91? Fast Copy in '88? How good is the review when they are ignorant of his work?

Rating:
Summary: Double bogey
Review: So, I'm not a golfer - never had the urge or the scratch to learn - maybe that's why I didn't love this book. What made me pick it up was the title - I mean, what the heck is a Money-Whipped Steer-Job Three Jack Give-Up Artist anyway? I won't spoil it for you. If you are a golfer, you probably already know. If not, be prepared for a rather bumpy ride through the world of professional golf where the egos are as large as Wall Street and the ability to win or lose in a few seconds is just about the same. But I just couldn't cut it.