Fore! Play: The Last American Male Takes Up Golf [Hardcover]

Bill Geist (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 25, 2001

The bestselling author of "Little League Confidential" goes on a hilarious investigative excursion to find out what's behind America's growing obsession with golf. The humorist's unique approach to the game provides uproarious insight into the nuances of golf that will ring true with any lover of the sport.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

It was only a matter of time before Bill Geist, the comic bard of suburban life, collided with the royal and ancient game. "Golf fever. It's serious, it's viral, it's epidemic, and," he observes in Fore! Play, "unlike West Nile no one is spraying for it." And if it hasn't thoroughly infected him, too, it's at least brought out enough writer's curiosity to spur an odyssey in search of why the game casts such a spell over so many devoted pilgrims.

His curiosity hits most of the expected stops on a beginning golfer's journey, and at times--his community night-school golf lessons, his interview at a ritzy country club, brief chronicles of trouble-filled rounds with his wife and son--he hits with enough spin to keep the humor pin-high and his narrative moving. But this is, in the end, an old story, one that every golfer has likely experienced and heard before, and Geist brings little new to it beyond his wry persona. More often than not, he winds up in a rough of his own making, reaching too hard for laughs that just aren't there. His Geistian golf definitions and tips ("Don't bend over to tee up your ball with a bag full of clubs over your shoulder or they'll spill out and make you look like Jerry Lewis") are simply silly when they're not out-and-out sophomoric. Of course, golf does have a knack for bringing out the worst in people. When Geist swings too wildly for a laugh in Fore! Play, the consequence is inevitable: he shanks it. --Jeff Silverman

From Publishers Weekly

Geist, humorist and regular CBS commentator, takes on one of the most popular American pastimes, despite his obvious skepticism about golf's appeal. Geist (Little League Confidential) resents hearing his friends endlessly discuss their latest golf outing or having to schedule his dental appointments around his dentist's games. "What is it about this sport? Is it a sport? I mean are there teams? Uniforms? Stadiums? Coaches? Cheerleaders? Hot dogs and beer? Bench-clearing brawls? Any of that stuff they have in real sports?" he quibbles. Ever the adventurer, Geist attempts to understand the widespread enthusiasm for the game by enrolling in an indoor class at a New Jersey elementary school in the middle of winter. The six lessons are just enough to get him started, and Geist goes to the driving range and then to the actual course. Disregarding his snail-paced improvement and persistent dislike of the game, he checks out the necessary paraphernalia at a Golf Merchandise Show, where he learns that there are special performance socks ("Now, how, exactly, will these socks perform for me?"), hand lotion, golf tension bands and so much more. He makes lots of suggestions for enriching the culture of golf, from playing in the carts, "polo-style," to introducing a little spirit via cheerleaders, pep bands and bonfires. Geist's amusing, inimitable style will engage sports and humor fans alike, with particular appeal for those golf widows and widowers who share his displeasure with the game. This light, delightful jab at a leisure-class sport comes just in time for the spring golf season.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; 1ST edition (April 25, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446527637
• ISBN-13: 978-0446527637
• Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 1 x 9.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,073,661 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fore! Play, August 27, 2003

By 

Susan Blair (Seminole, Fl United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fore! Play: The Last American Male Takes up Golf (Paperback)

If someone didn't think this book was funny.....there is really something wrong with them!!! Laughed through the whole book, actually the audio tape of book. Didn't want to get out of the car sometimes.....a little like "all things considered" on NPR. What is not funny in this Fore! Play....I don't know? Read it, listen to it...whatever....IT'S GREAT! P.S. I am not a golfer...it doesn't even matter!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Its been a long time since I read anything nearly as funny, October 17, 2001

By 

Ravindra Okade (MD, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fore! Play: The Last American Male Takes Up Golf (Hardcover)

Yes .. the last time I laughed so much was when I read PG Wodehouse. There are pockets of humor in the book, waiting to explode on you. I read the book on NYC subway and had a hard time avoiding laughing out loud !

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Laughed till I cried!, July 19, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Fore! Play: The Last American Male Takes Up Golf (Hardcover)

Bought this book for my husband (an avid golfer) to read on a plane trip. He was lauhing so hard he was crying and passed it over to me -a nongolfer! I started to read it and I too was in tears! Bill Geist captures the everyday obsurdities of the game and serves them up in a hilarious fashion. Golfer and nongolers alike will be unable to resits the urge to laugh out loud! A funny quick read.