Rating: 
Summary: Paying your Dues
Review: Follow a pro golfer and a caddy through the topsy turvey world or professional golf. Good book!
Rating: 
Summary: I want to be a caddie!
Review: Following the turmoil-filled rookie year of Rich Beem and his caddie Steve Duplantis around would make one feel like a groupie of Motley Crue - sounds like fun to me!
Rating:
Summary: Winner
Review: Great to look back on especially after Rich Beem PGA success.
Rating:
Summary: Better than John Feinstein
Review: I am a junior in high school and dream of playing on the PGA Tour. Last year my parents began buying me books about the PGA TOur, so I could could learn about the lifestyle out there. The only two books I had read werer by John Feinstein. Both were pretty good but a little boring. There were too many players to keep track of, and a lot of their stories were very similar, so it was confusing. This book was way more fun to read. I laughed a lot, but I also learned about how things really are on teh PGA Tour. It seemed more real to me to read about guys who have really struggled. There was also a lot of juicey stuff about girls, and drinking, which was fun to read to. Everybody knows pro golfers like to have fun, but you never get to read about it. So, I really learned a lot from this book, and you will too if you buy it.
Rating:
Summary: Marry me Rich! Or Steve!
Review: I bought this book for my boyfriend, who is a golf nut. After weeks of listening to him talk about endlessly to his buddies - not to mention having him ignore me while he read it! - I decided to see for myself what all the fuss was about. Understand, I could give a flying fig about golf, but from the first page I was hoooked on this book, mostly because of the personal stories of Rich Beem and Steve Duplantis, the player and caddie featured. They are very real people, who have overcome so much in their lives, an despite all the obstacles, they both achieved their dream in golf. And, judging by the photo on the back cover, they are hotties, too! Although there were times when all the golf slang confused me, and I didn't particularly care for touranament action described (my boyfriend tell me it was very exciting stuff), I loved reading about Rich and Steve. I hope they figure out all the problems in their lives. They deserve great success, because they've earned it.
Rating:
Summary: A well deserved place in the pantheon
Review: I consider myself something of a buff when it comes to golf books. My library includes everything from Wind to Darwin to Dobreiner to Feinstein to Samson. I was given B, S & T as a present; when I saw the cover art I was dubious as to its merits, but after reading it I have come away most impressed by the author, a young sportswriter named Alan Shipnuck. His prose is so lively as to almost jump off the page; he writes with both affection of his protagonists - the PGA Tour newcomer RIch Beem, and his veteran caddie Steve Duplantis, both talented if erratic characters - and a keen-eyed critique of their misadventures. The book enlightens as it entertains. Despite my knowledge of the subject, I learned a lot about the culture of the PGA Tour, and the goings-on of its players. What most impressed me was the intimate portrayal of the Beem and Duplantis. It is the rare book - golf of otherwise - that gets so close to its subjects. You become so involved in the stories of Beem and Duplantis as to want to stop the narrative at times and give them a good admonishing. I had heard of neither before cracking the spine of this fine book, and I now follow both of their careers closely. That is the highest compliment I can pay Alan Shipnuck. He has made me love professional golf just a little bit more.
Rating:
Summary: A well deserved place in the pantheon
Review: I consider myself something of a buff when it comes to golf books. My library includes everything from Wind to Darwin to Dobreiner to Feinstein to Samson. I was given B, S & T as a present; when I saw the cover art I was dubious as to its merits, but after reading it I have come away most impressed by the author, a young sportswriter named Alan Shipnuck. His prose is so lively as to almost jump off the page; he writes with both affection of his protagonists - the PGA Tour newcomer RIch Beem, and his veteran caddie Steve Duplantis, both talented if erratic characters - and a keen-eyed critique of their misadventures. The book enlightens as it entertains. Despite my knowledge of the subject, I learned a lot about the culture of the PGA Tour, and the goings-on of its players. What most impressed me was the intimate portrayal of the Beem and Duplantis. It is the rare book - golf of otherwise - that gets so close to its subjects. You become so involved in the stories of Beem and Duplantis as to want to stop the narrative at times and give them a good admonishing. I had heard of neither before cracking the spine of this fine book, and I now follow both of their careers closely. That is the highest compliment I can pay Alan Shipnuck. He has made me love professional golf just a little bit more.
Rating:
Summary: Great Golf Book
Review: I could not put this book down once I started reading it. I am a casual golf fan and watch the major tournaments, I had never heard of Rich Beem or Steve Duplantis, but Alan Shipnuck does an incredible job of introducing us to these two characters. I now find myself checking the sports pages to see how Beem is doing.
Rating: 
Summary: A waste of money .....................
Review: I found this book to be a waste of money and if I were either of the main characters....I would be totally embarrassed to have my immaturities listed for several hundred pages. We've all been young - and I certainly would not want my earlier days in print...I can't believe the characters let themselves be exposed like this - even if it is all true. If you want to read about a couple young men running around to bars, strip clubs, and watch one of them dump their kid off to any new girlfriend he can find -then by all means this is your book. If you were looking for some real insight into the typical tour pro, their caddie, their challenges, wins and defeats - then look somewhere else......
Rating:
Summary: Top notch, top notch!
Review: I found this to be an enjoyable book. Like many others, I probably wouldn't have read it without Rich Beem winning a major championship this year and beating Tiger Woods in a truly great, clutch performance. If you're a golf fan at any level or just a sports fan, I think you'll find this book worth reading. It's not an award winning type effort, but the characters are interesting, as is the story.I think what keeps this from being a 5-star book is that, in my opinion, the author did a journeymanlike job on it, but not an exceptional job. I think he committed too much space to the caddy and not quite enough on the player. The caddy's story is pretty simple - Steve does an outstanding job when he's into it, but he's such a disorganized screwup that he can't be counted on to show up, much less perform at a high level. I didn't see him as a typical caddy, or worth as much space as the author gave him. Rich, the pro, carried the book by being interesting. He also has issues with not being professional, but he's such an interesting and likeable guy I enjoyed reading about him. The author could have probably improved the book by adding to Rich's space and subtracting from Steve's space. So, to sum it up, I think you'll like it if you have any interest in the subject matter, but don't expect a great book.
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