Rating: Summary: Feinstein Delivers Again Review: This was a very enjoyable reading...Feinstein does a masterful job at giving you an insider's view from a fan's perspective. He gives us a closeup look at the personal side of our "idols"...his story of John Daly was particularly touching and insightful. Must reading for any golf or Feinstein fan.
Rating: Summary: If you're a golfer, read this book Review: Very enjoyable reading. Even though I know the outcome of each tournament the book held my attention. As usual, Feinstein makes you feel like you know each and every player with his patented "mini-bios." Maybe read the book a couple of weeks prior to the US Open, it will get you in the mood to watch it on TV. Will not be winning the Pulitzer for investigative journalism anytime soon, but so what? If you liked this book, try my favorite Feinstein book, "A Civil War" - the story of the Army/Navy game.
Rating: Summary: Ran Out of Gas Review: What begins with a fascinating look at the Masters and the U.S. Open sloughs off the British Open and completely disses the PGA. I thought Feinstein had some fascinating moments--the guy who picks the hole locations for the U.S. Open, the spot in the Augusta National clubhouse where the amatuers sleep during the tournament, the torment of flying to England and qualifying for the British Open in a hurricane, the personal stories of Fred Couples and David Duval--but I agree with previous writers who found too much play-by-play. Feinstein also missed some obvious magic, giving 17-year-old Brian Rose's amazing British Open play only a few lines. No one sports moment in all of 1998 was so electrifying as Rose's hole-out on 18 in front of the British fans, yet Feinstein tosses this off in a sentence. The worst part of the book, however, is how Feinstein seemed to lose interest by the PGA section. This is a 400+-pager with less than 60 pages devoted to the PGA. He so persuaded me that he didn't care that I didn't either, and I stopped reading. I think Feinstein had about ten really good magazine stories here that, for some reason (a big book advance?), had to be strecthed to hundreds of pages. In the end, it's in an awkward middle ground trying for both Herbert Warren Wind and Dan Jenkins, without the grace of the former or the laugh-out-loud raunch of the latter and, eventually, reaching neither.
Rating: Summary: No Birdie here...... but he managed Par Review: What seems to have the makings of a great read falls short with countless pages of unnecessary ramblings. This book was over 460 pages, and I would say at least 175 read like old newspaper articles. We know who won the tournaments! I mean anyone who is taking the time to read a book like this certainly watched the Major in 1998 and didn't need to have each stoke retold like it happened yesterday, but Mr. Feinstein felt he should. It's a shame because the player bios and various anctedotes about the tournaments/personalities were fun to read, but you had to work your way through countless chapters talking about Mark O'Meara's thought process on the 4th hole when he was choosing the club he was going to use. Too much!! After I read the first few chapters on the PGA Championship (the last of the majors covered)I put the book down. Afterall the last 60 pages will cover the PGA Championship stroke by tortuous stroke. Hate to ruin it for everyone but Vijay Singh won that tournament. I didn't even have to read the last 60 pages.
Rating: Summary: Not bad Review: When you pick up this book, don't think that you are going to learn everything you want to know about the 4 majors. This book focuses solely on the stories in 1998. With O'Meara winning the Masters and the British and Vijay Singh and Lee Janzen winning the PGA and US Open respectively, in comparison, it wasn't that exciting a year. Don't get me wrong, there were some interesting storylines and it was well written, but if you are a golf fan who knows some of his/her stuff, you will not learn too much. One thing I did not hear before this was that Rae's Creek is dyed blue every year. There are a few other interesting tidbits, but not too many. All in all, it was well written, but not too difficult to read. Very easy to follow.
Rating: Summary: No Good Walk Spoiled Review: While the book is good in the sense it describes some men and their attempt to win a major, it falls a little short of the quality of Feinstein's last work A Good Walk Spoiled. Too much hole by hole drama and not enough human interest. After all, we all know what happened in the tournaments.
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