Rating: 
Summary: Unexpected Masterpiece
Review: As a frequent flyer Delta, I have been an avid reader of Michael Konik's golf writing for more years than I care to admit. I'm a fan. He writes with a lot of passion and sentimentality for the great game of golf. He's at the same time also very funny and dry when he has to be. I appreciate Konik's style, which stands out from the mainstream golf writing. However, even though I own his other golf book about caddying for Jack Nicklaus I was somewhat unprepared for "In Search of Burning Bush." To say this a "great" book is not doing it justice. This is THE book that captures exactly why golf makes a difference in my life. As soon as I finished it and caught my breath, I gave it to my wife and said, "If you read this book you'll understand."I have already written a personal note to Mr. Konik to express my appreciation for his honesty and his eloquence. I am rephrasing some of it here because I truly believe anyone who cares about golf will feel grateful that he read "In Search of Burning Bush." I know many people from the Shivas Irons Society will consider what I'm going to say offensive, but I've got to be honest. Konik's books, which is based on "Golf in the Kingdom," is far superior to the original. The emotions in "In Search of" are much deeper, and more powerful. It's very real. I came away feeling like I knew the author and his friend Don like they were old family members without any secrets. Don is very eccentric and likable character. I would love to play a round with him or just talk golf. As he's described in the book, Don is a very inspiring guy who doesn't let his physical ailments get inthe way of his love for golf. On a side note, if you have ever played golf in Scotland you will find yourself saying "yes!" when you read the descriptions of what golf is like over there compared to America. Excellent descriptions that really capture the spirit of Scottish links golf vs. American park golf. I expected Michael Konik's next golf book to be good. However, I was unprepared for it to be so powerful and so effective. I can't recommend any book I've read in the last year any more highly.
Rating:
Summary: My mistake
Review: At first blush, I thought the title of this book was about the time our president dropped a burning cigaret in his lap, but silly me, it actually about the game of golf. :-) I'm not much of a golf player, but I did read a chapter or two in the book just to see what it was about, and it turned out to be a very absorbing, interesting, and entertaining book about two golfers' pilgrimage to Scotland to play at the great St. Andrews course. This is more than just another golf book; for the two men it's more a journey of both the body and spirit as they test themselves against the redoubtable obstacles of the legendary course. I also learned some fascinating trivia about St. Andrews. According to the author, in addition to its picturesque location next to the sea in the historical old Kingdom of Fife, it was originally the site of an elephant graveyard! Well, I would like to see further information on that (paleontologists say that wooley mammoths and rhinoceroses didn't become extinct in Great Britain until as recent as five or six thousand years ago) but this is just one of the many interesting subjects that came up in the course of the book.
Rating:
Summary: Paradise
Review: Challanges, they come in all shapes and sizes and are indiscriminate. For those of us who play at golf,can't wait to get on the links, tinker at home with putters, irons and the latest inventions, collect golf equipment even if we don't need it, then you probably have a passion for the game. This book is not about the score but the true experience , which I believe we lose sight of so many times. And friendship, sensitivity, and non-golf feelings. Two buddys, a dream and a lifetime to remember.
Couldn't put it down though my tee-time was quickly approaching.
Rating:
Summary: an excellent read for all handicaps.....
Review: I have played played most of the courses mentioned in this very readable book. Their experiences brought back many fine memories.... To go to Scotland with good 'buds' and to see how golf is part of the basic fabic of everyday life there, really sums up the trips I have taken. It is the next best thing to actually going there. Also true to fact, is that there are really no bad links courses, just lesser known ones....
This read compares very favorably with books such as 'A season in Dornock' and should be read prior to any first time trip to Scotland / Ireland.
Rating:
Summary: Read This Book!
Review: I just finished In Search of Burningbush and felt compelled to write. The author's true voice and passion for golf come through in every chapter, and many of the passages describing the Scottish links and countryside are simply beautiful. I was also drawn to the spiritual aspects of the author's quest as I am in a mid-life search for my "Burningbush". In Hinduism, I have read, the main thrust of the belief system is that people think they want certain things such as pleasure and worldly success. But ultimately, in this life or another, even noble life pursuits become unfulfilling. What people really want is something else - infinite being, infinite awareness, and infinite bliss. We can only get brief spatterings of true joy; we feel as though some great harmony exists in the world, then our bodily limitations take over. Golf is like that. We feel the sensation of perfect body and soul in a golf shot, but then it is instantly extinguished as we remember the double bogey on the last hole. I wish the feeling would last forever. As I read this book, I sensed the same longing. I think what many of us are looking for is there, just past our conscious selves. When our bodies are quiet and our minds are still, the door opens for an instant. In that instant is an eternity that we simply cannot comprehend. As I write this review, I am looking at a picture of the Old Course at St. Andrews hanging on the wall of my den. I bought the picture many years ago because it looked like a great den picture. But now, after reading In Search of Burningbush, I think something else may have drawn me to that picture - a type of "connection" I am sure Don (the main character in the book) would say. Someday I hope to play the Old Course and discover, if only for an instant, the metaphysical connection explored so beautifully in this book.
Rating:
Summary: Winner
Review: I laughed. I cried. I wanted to get on the next plane to Scotland. If you've ever made the trip, you'll be shaking your head in amazement. This book captures what golf in Scotland is all about especially the spiritual aspects that have nothing to do with birdies and bogies. If you don't like this book, you don't like golf.
Rating:
Summary: The Search
Review: If you've played a perfect round of golf, you don't need this book. If you've hit one perfect shot in your life and been satisfied never to try for another, you don't need this book. If, however, you have ever walked off a green ready to quit the game altogether (I paid money to be here?) only to walk down a fairway two holes later wondering if you might make a run at the PGA Tour after all, then Michael Konik has written the golf book for you. Mr. Konik's world is a world of very high highs and very low lows. Apparently, there have been "afternoons" (plural) of lovemaking and wine, nights of high-stakes poker, weeks of world travel and miles in fast cars. But there has also been divorce, betrayal, and serious heartache. He has come close perfection, he has lost it, and he is out there in search of it again. The perfection Mr. Konik seeks this time is the ultimate pilgrimmage to the birthplace of golf with Don, the ultimate "golf buddy" Konik has been searching for since childhood. He wants the golf to be pure: he wants to walk the hallowed courses with someone who appreciates them as much as he does. But he also wants the relationship with Don to be pure, special, and deep. If Thoreau's "mass of men" lead lives of quiet desperation, Mr. Konik is not one of them: his desperation is loud. He desperately wants Don to have a magical time. He desperately wants to have a magical time while Don is having a magical time. He charts the golf-trip itinerary in great detail, and calls on his travel-writing contacts to be sure that he and Don will have the right caddies and play the right courses. He prepares a tremendous gift to his friend Don, who would never have the chance to experience like this if it weren't for Michael. It is what happens next that makes the book special and causes reveiwers to say it is about more than golf. Perfection, again, eludes Mr. Konik, usually in direct proportion to his effort to find it. Konik tries too hard, he realizes, and he knows it makes him insufferable as a golfing partner, let alone as a buddy. "I hate myself for it," he says. Thus the metaphor linking golf to life is complete. Nothing is easily or permanently perfect (except, perhaps, Mr. Konik's ear for the thick dialect of the Scots, which he reproduces with laugh-out-loud accuracy). The journey, which was to have been the ultimate golf trip, has considerable highs and lows. Throughout, Mr. Konik confesses to his own imperfection and tries to understand Don's. When writers --and friends-- are that honest, we end up pulling for them to the end.
Rating:
Summary: The Search
Review: If you've played a perfect round of golf, you don't need this book. If you've hit one perfect shot in your life and been satisfied never to try for another, you don't need this book. If, however, you have ever walked off a green ready to quit the game altogether (I paid money to be here?) only to walk down a fairway two holes later wondering if you might make a run at the PGA Tour after all, then Michael Konik has written the golf book for you. Mr. Konik's world is a world of very high highs and very low lows. Apparently, there have been "afternoons" (plural) of lovemaking and wine, nights of high-stakes poker, weeks of world travel and miles in fast cars. But there has also been divorce, betrayal, and serious heartache. He has come close perfection, he has lost it, and he is out there in search of it again. The perfection Mr. Konik seeks this time is the ultimate pilgrimmage to the birthplace of golf with Don, the ultimate "golf buddy" Konik has been searching for since childhood. He wants the golf to be pure: he wants to walk the hallowed courses with someone who appreciates them as much as he does. But he also wants the relationship with Don to be pure, special, and deep. If Thoreau's "mass of men" lead lives of quiet desperation, Mr. Konik is not one of them: his desperation is loud. He desperately wants Don to have a magical time. He desperately wants to have a magical time while Don is having a magical time. He charts the golf-trip itinerary in great detail, and calls on his travel-writing contacts to be sure that he and Don will have the right caddies and play the right courses. He prepares a tremendous gift to his friend Don, who would never have the chance to experience like this if it weren't for Michael. It is what happens next that makes the book special and causes reveiwers to say it is about more than golf. Perfection, again, eludes Mr. Konik, usually in direct proportion to his effort to find it. Konik tries too hard, he realizes, and he knows it makes him insufferable as a golfing partner, let alone as a buddy. "I hate myself for it," he says. Thus the metaphor linking golf to life is complete. Nothing is easily or permanently perfect (except, perhaps, Mr. Konik's ear for the thick dialect of the Scots, which he reproduces with laugh-out-loud accuracy). The journey, which was to have been the ultimate golf trip, has considerable highs and lows. Throughout, Mr. Konik confesses to his own imperfection and tries to understand Don's. When writers --and friends-- are that honest, we end up pulling for them to the end.
Rating:
Summary: Burningbush Connects with Golfers
Review: This book not only captures the true meaning of friendship; it defines how friendships are formed and enhanced by the great game of golf. Add Konik's deep appreciation for the Scots' gift of golf to the world and you have a work that is a great read and a must for all golfers from duffers to scratch players.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful
Review: This is a beautiful story that is told with great sensitivity and passion which you seldom see in more traditional golf books. People who really know and really understand the game of golf will get what In Search of Burningbush is all about but I am certain that people who are not heavy golf fans will also find this a wonderfully moving story of friendship. I'm not ashamed to admit I cried. Not many golf books make you do that. What more can I say? It's a great story about a great game and it's a much easier and less confusing read than Golf in the Kingdom which influenced it. I'm proud to own Michael Konik's book.
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