Rating: 
Summary: Transcends the golf-book genre
Review: Michael Murphy is not simply a golfer, or golf writer, but a philosopher, co-founder of Esalen Institute and a thinker who has boldly gone where no other has before him -- or certainly not with such dash and wit. Shivas Irons is one of the great creations of golf literature or any other. I've read this book six or seven times, always captivated by the prose and the tale-spinning. I believe it every time! And the gems tucked in here: the dinner in which Shivas speaks in praise of golf is lifted from Plato's "Symposium," complete with the drunken intervention of Evan Tyrhee (Alcibiades to Shivas' Socrates) to make his speech in praise of his mentor. Excellent on every count, worth a read and a re-read every year.
Rating: 
Summary: Read the first half, forget the rest
Review: Murphy takes you on a magical and enlightening round of golf at the place where it all began, or at least could have: Scotland. His descriptions of the landscape and the golf course made me long for the links courses we have on our own coast. I enjoyed his attempt at mimicking the various dialects of the Scots and other characters in the book. After their round, Murphy and his new acquaintance, Shivas Irons, a sort of golf priest have a few shots of Scotch, and then go for a midnight stroll in search of Seamus MacDuff. We never really know if Seamus is alive or a figment of Irons' imagination. They find an ancient club that's suppose to belong to MacDuff in a cave and some featheries, and then they hit some perfect shots in the moonlight. Up until this point the book is about golf and the feeling many golfers have that golf is much more than hitting a little white ball around a nicely maintained park. But then the book goes off on some transparent pop psycobabble from the '60s while Murphy spends years searching for Irons and MacDuff. If this book were a round of golf I'd have to say it that Murphy shot par on the front nine and double bogeyed his way through the back. I'd recommend reading the first half and then just dreaming about what the last half could have been about. I'm sure you'll do a better job of finishing the book than Murphy did.
Rating:
Summary: Golf, the final frontier
Review: Read this book, and you'll really want to be a better golfer. It may not help your score (in fact, it will make you stop cheating and you'll have to deal with your real score), but it will give voice to strong feelings you probably have always had about the game, but may not have realized out on the muni. What is our true relationship with nature? Shivas takes dead aim, and one round of golf will change you forever. If you are one of those who understands that Caddyshack (the best movie about golf), like all great comedy, not only is fun to watch, but also actually changes the way you play golf (and do everything else), then you will find that GITK (the best book about golf), like all great philosophical art, not only is fun to read, but also actually changes the way you play golf (and do everything else).
Rating: 
Summary: Not Your Grandfather's Golf Book! ***** star
Review: There are few golf books available that do not take as their premise that you want technical advice on how-to improve your score. Here is a book that uses golf as its storytelling foundation but moves on to much greater dimensions. With the help of one of the most fascinating characters in literature, golf-pro Shivas Irons, you will be taken on the ride of your life as you follow a round of Golf at St. Andrews (er, I mean, Burning Bush as the real name is hidden in the book), have dinner with the most interesting characters and end up back at St. Andrews at Midnight with your Mashie and an old leather ball. Prepare yourself to think about Golf in ways that you rarely have and to be impacted so much that you will not be able to go on your next round of golf without thinking of Shivas!!! This book only rates an eight because the main plot ends about 3/4 of the way through the book and contains a few chapters taken from Shivas' notebooks at the end. These chapters, while interesting in themselves, cannot match the intensity of the story. This book is not for everyone but if you are fascinated by the Eastern philosophy, by the feeling of being "in the zone", like to read books like Ishmael by Dan Quinn and The River Why by David james Duncan you will love this book
Rating: 
Summary: Stereotypes and weak continuity
Review: This book is absolutely a waste of time and money. Is there one character who is not taken directly from the realm of stereotype? We think not. Looking for a good book to read, try "the Long Walk," or "The Island of Dr. Moreau," or "The Book of Tao": there are many excellent books written by excellent writers - this high-school level offering is without value.
Rating:
Summary: Great Travel Reading
Review: This book is great for the golfer and non-golfer alike. I read this book while traveling from Washington, DC to Chicago and needed something to read through Pennsylvania and Ohio. Murphy weaves a masterful tale of his round of golf with Shivas Irons, a mythical caddie/coach and through this experience Shivas helps him understand more about himself, his swing, and his life, and his place in the universe. While this book is a bit out there compared to your run of the mill golf book, it is entertaining and thought provoking in a way not seen in many books about sport. This book has soul-not many do.
Rating:
Summary: Great Travel Reading
Review: This book is great for the golfer and non-golfer alike. I read this book while traveling from Washington, DC to Chicago and needed something to read through Pennsylvania and Ohio. Murphy weaves a masterful tale of his round of golf with Shivas Irons, a mythical caddie/coach and through this experience Shivas helps him understand more about himself, his swing, and his life, and his place in the universe. While this book is a bit out there compared to your run of the mill golf book, it is entertaining and thought provoking in a way not seen in many books about sport. This book has soul-not many do.
Rating:
Summary: Best golf lesson I've had
Review: This book substantially changed the way I play golf. For starters, I've managed to stop abusing my equipment. And I'm less prone to overswinging. Most of all, I enjoy playing more. A great life lesson.
Rating: 
Summary: Michael Murphy is a silly man
Review: This book uses a technique that I've noticed is typical of alot of new age books. They start out fairly well grounded, then (assuming that if you've read this far you accept anything the author says) they go off the deep-end. The book starts off with a tale of playing golf with a man called Chivas Irons, and this is ok. Then it wanders into of all things: physics! Mr. Murphy seems to feel that our current crop of physics P.H.D.s have it all wrong, and that they should come to him to get straightened out. He talks about "true gravity" and all sorts of stuff. Then there is a chapter called "We are all Kites in the Wind". Interesting analogy you say? No analogy, he means it! He states that we are all acutally kites in the wind! What is the evidence for this statement? None is given. As you have probably guessed by now, this book isn't about golf. It's about...., ahhhh,...whatever - you tell me. If you are the sort of person who likes silly things, claiming that proves "open-mindedness" and "imagination", then you'll probably like this book. If you are looking for a book on golf instruction, you'll be bitterly dissappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Truly an amazing story!
Review: This is one of those books you always want to re-read. I found the story so fantastic that I actually decided to search out "Burningbush" golf club when I studied abroad in Scotland. Michael Murphy recounts a story so wonderfully mystical, that only players with the proper vision, depth, and a love for the game will appriciate it. If you don't play, don't buy. If you love the game and think you understand it, you'll love this book.
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