Rating: 
Summary: A gem of a book that golfers will read for decades to come
Review: Next year will mark my 50th year in book publishing. There have been only a few times when a manuscript arrived on my desk which seemed compellingly unique and truly magic. THE LEGEND OF BAGGER VANCE by Steven Pressfield was one of those rare occasions. There was something about this story that whispered to me it had a chance to become a little classic. Now that the book has been published I am happy to say that is just what's happening. I've never had so many unsolicited passionately enthusiastic comments for a book. I believe the reason is that this singular story teaches that in life as well as in golf the real contest is within oneself. Please read it yourself and you'll see what I mean.
Rating: 
Summary: This book changed my life!
Review: Pressfield paints a magical tale woven around golf, timeless values, and the importance of ones heritage. Upon reading "Bagger Vance" I realized my own need to find my authentic "swing" and ironically sought (and found) a career in golf. This book, simply stated, changed my life and my golf game. It made my time on the course more meaningful and the time off the course more defined.I have given this book to numerous people to share my love of golf, and the important values inherent in the tradition of the game.
Rating:
Summary: Great golf story.
Review: The Legend of Bagger Vance rates up there with Golf in the Kingdom as one of the best stories about the metaphysical side of the game ever told. Great reading.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely a must read
Review: Wether golf is your game or you are ready to take on the game of life, "The Legend of Bagger Vance" is a must read novel Follow two of golfs greatest players as they are matched up along side Savannah's local hero as each player comes to realize that golf is the only true game and is not so different then life itself Bagger Vance teaches player and spectator alike that life is nothing short of a great battlefield, and that to be victorious, you must search for your authentic swing. Be all of who your creator intended you to be.
Steven Pressfield waxes genious in his novel of the game that lasts a lifetime
Rating:
Summary: A great book about the inherently mystical nature of golf.
Review: Golf is the purest of sports because it requires even the weekend duffer to lose himself (and herself) in the "field." Golf cannot be successfully played by trying to do it. The golfer has to let go, surrender to the arising field of "world" and "mind." Pressfield has captured this most elusive of golf's mysteries in this marvelous little book.
The dedicated golfer will recognize the inherent truth in Bagger Vance's advice and counsel. The spiritual initiate will recognize the timeless "person" who is Bagger Vance. Golf and the Guru; what a combination.
The question I was left with was, Did Krishna play golf with Arjuna
Rating:
Summary: This book will touch your soul not to mention your golf game
Review: For anyone who plays golf and embraces life with the concept of a loving benevolent God, you not only must read this book
by Steven Pressfield, you must own it. Through prose that will
both captivate and move you, Pressfield tells the wonderful story of a fictitious golf match between Bobby Jones, Walter
Hagen and a local war hero from South Georgia in the 1930s. Accompanying the war hero is Bagger Vance, a mysterious black
man who turns out to be much more than a simple caddy. You won't be able to put this down, but when you finally do after
the last page, you'll feel blessed for having read it.
Rating: 
Summary: Very good - Very different from the movie.
Review: I read this book after seeing Robert Redford's movie of the same name. Interestingly, Redford both added to, and took away from, the book in order to arrive at the story for his movie.
The book is intended to be a modern version of the Bhagavad Gita, told using golf as a metaphor rather than war. It is an ambitious effort by Pressfield that comes across far darker and deeper than the movie. Redford, on the other hand, focuses his movie on portions of the book and gives it a lighter feeling, making it a more clear-cut tale of redemption.
Both are very good, but they are also very different. I highly recommend the book even if you've already seen the movie - you'll only recognize a little of what's here.
Rating:
Summary: WELL...MAYBE NOT.
Review: The title, THE LEGEND OF BAGGER VANCE, is a very loose tie between the movie and this book. Beyond that, things get a little dicey and I am not sure that I can give the book the same rave reviews that I gave the movie.
Well, actually, it's a lot easier than that. The book falls considerably short of what the movie became under the masterful touch of Robert Redford. Like his work on THE HORSE WHISPERER, Redford was able to make a movie that improves upon a book and get to the nugget of a great story, leaving out stuff that seems sometimes to ooze from the imagination of an author who gets too caught up in and excited about the supposed profoundness of his own story. In the end that's the real problem with THE LEGEND OF BAGGER VANCE (the book). Pressfield, obviously an individual who feels much for the game of golf and its parallels with life, gets sucked into the out-of-control upward spiral of his awe for the game. He likely collapsed after writing several of the more revved up passages. It wasn't enough to call golf a game, Pressfield had to take the next step and try to build a case for golf as the basis for a lost and resurgent religion. Bagger Vance as a wild pagan god of war? Junah as a bizarre victim of what can best be described as Jack Nicklaus on a bummer trip? The golf swing--the Authentic Swing--as an essential component of and precursor to achieving a peaceful and happy existence? All way too weird and ethereal for me! But there are many redeeming factors to this book. Read chapter 11 with its descriptions of the golf swing as a metaphor. Read chapter 12 with its descriptions of the game in comparison to other sports and the sheer difficulty of the game. Read chapter 16 with its wonderful wordsmithing about the importance of a good grip, more on the game's difficulty and the individual nature of golf competition. Finally, the beginning paragraphs of chapter 20 speak briefly, but eloquently, about the need for a golfer to be keenly aware of the clubhead and the power that comes in the golf swing from a deliberately wide swing arc. Other than these references you are on your own. Rent of buy the movie and enjoy its simple but profound appreciation for golf as probably the greatest game ever devised by man and leave most of the book to the arena of too much information or, perhaps, to too much imagination.
Rating:
Summary: Magical story of one man's redemption through golf.
Review: "The Legend of Bagger Vance" is a wonderful story of a damaged man's personal redemption through the magical game of golf. Rannulph Junah is a former golden boy who, in recent years, has been ravaged by demons that he cannot overcome. Junah was the pride of Savannah, Georgia. He was a good-looking young kid who was also a gifted golf player. He seemed to have every door open to him for his future. But, then he went off to fight during World War I. Apparently, he saw and experienced things during the war that left him shaken. When he returned to the states, he became a recluse who drowned his sorrows in alcohol. Fast-forwarding more than a decade shows Savannah as a thriving town with a brand new championship golf course. The denizens of Savannah desperately want to bring fame and notoriety to this new course. Therefore, they hatch a plan to have an exhibition tournament involving two of the biggest names in golf in that day, Bobby Jones (two years removed from golf's only grand slam and about to retire and go into practicing law... and building the Augusta National Golf Course) and Walter Hagen (a larger than life character who was always very engaging to the gallery). Because civic pride was on the line, the organizers wanted one of their own as a third member of this exhibition. After much debate, Junah was settled on as the most likely candidate to compete. Of course, Junah did not seek this 'honor', nor did he wish to endure the pressure that such a selection carried. Many of the townspeople were also concerned that Junah's erratic behavior over the previous decade could do more harm than good to the town's reputation.
Enter Bagger Vance, a mystical figure who seems be in Savannah for only one reason, to help Junah compete in this match and to help him overcome the demons that plague him. In a nod to Eastern philosophy, Vance helps Junah look within himself to find the answers and redemption he is looking for via 'the Authentic Swing'. The 'Authentic Swing' is both a metaphorical and a literal representation of a place in life that all men strive for where they are not burdened by demons and distractions and are able to achieve all it is that they seek. With Bagger Vance serving as his caddie, Junah embarks on the 36-hole odyssey of this golf match. Early on, every hole becomes a image of the demons that Junah battles and the hopes and disappointments of an entire town. As the match goes on, it becomes clear that each hole is not only a competition for the honor of Savannah, but also a deeply personal battle for Junah's soul. Does he win and find redemption? I dare not say in this review. If you have read the book, then you know the answer. For those of you who have not read this book, do so. It is not only the moving tale of Rannulph Junah, but also a metaphorical look at the battles all of us face.
Rating: 
Summary: Too Much Supernatural, Not Enough Story
Review: I suppose if you like golf and you understand Eastern philosphy, Bagger Vance will seem like a good read. I have played no golf other than miniature golf, and I'm not really up on Eastern mythology, so this book seemed very, very odd to me. I read it because I had nothing else to read and I liked "Gates of Fire" by Pressfield a lot, "Tides of War" was not nearly as good, and I hope to read "Last of the Amazons" soon. At any rate, I already knew the book was different from the movie (which I hadn't seen anyway), but I think I'll have to go rent the movie just to see if it sits better with me. The first problem, to me, was that this book needed to be longer. Readers never get to know Junah or any of the other characters all that intimately, nor do we get to know much about our narrator Hardy, or the mysterious Bagger Vance. I think if Pressfield had slowed the story down, spent more time developing it and the characters, then it would have been a little better. Still, unless you're an avid golfer, the idea that the Meaning of Life can be gleaned from golf seems just a tad overblown. Sure, games can teach important things about life, but I think Pressfield took things too far. If you love golf, and you have a strong understanding of Eastern mythology, then I recommend this book. If you don't, then I would caution you to avoid it, because you'll end up scratching your head and wondering "What the heck was that?" just like I did.
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