The Heart of a Goof [Paperback]

P.G. Wodehouse (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2000

It was a morning when all of nature shouted 'Fore!' 'If ever comic writing captured the joy of doing the long twelfth at Auchtermuchtie in one under bogey, here it is. Wodehouse keeps his eye on the ball and never presses, his clear shots to the emerald fairway leaving lesser writers to hunt furiously in the long rough, chewing their niblicks and snapping their spoons. Once you have begun them, you will go through Wodehouse's classic golf stories like a bullet through a cream puff. They are sheer, kick-up-your-heels bliss.' - Lynne Truss.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

A Golf collection

From his favourite chair on the terrace above the ninth hole, The Oldest Member tells a series of hilarious golfing stories. From Evangeline, Bradbury Fisher’s fifth wife and a notorious ‘golfing giggler’, to poor Rollo Podmarsh whose game was so unquestionably inept that ‘he began to lose his appetite and would moan feebly at the sight of a poached egg’, the game of golf, its players and their friends and enemies are here shown in all their comic glory. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

PG Wodehouse was created a Knight of the British Empire in 1975, and he died on St Valentine's Day in the same year at the age of ninety-three. His books are published in every language, and have been frequently adapted for radio and television. In Jeeves and Wooster he created two of the best known and loved characters in twentieth century fiction.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (January 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140284079
• ISBN-13: 978-0140284072
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,585,082 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #6 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > Authors, A-Z > ( W ) > Wodehouse, P.G.
  • #41 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Sports

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The tough and dreamy world of golf, June 11, 2000

By 

"ponscaso" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Heart of a Goof (Paperback)

When I read this book I had never played golf in my life. Nevertheless, I laughed and enjoyed it as I have all other books by Wodehouse. Later on I had a chance to learn this sport, and one of the reasons for my accepting this new way of relaxation and exercise was (what else?) remembering the hilarious situations that develop in the links dear P.G. takes us through. Walking along the golf course has made me appreciate even more the depth of Wodehouse's humor.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars good wodehouse, May 22, 2001

By 

C. Holland "erigena" (california) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Heart of a Goof (Paperback)

heart of a goof is vintage wodehouse, the language as perfectly controlled as a tiger woods putt, spicy with deadpan humor and priceless social commentary. unlike one reviewer i found the ensnarement at the beginning of each story, in which the Oldest Member deftly secures his unwilling audience, different each time, and very funny. the use of golf as a metaphor for life is nothing new but wodehouse had a perfect ear for dialog and a sense of character that carries these little stories beautifully into this century. i hate golf and i still loved this book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Golf--The Final Frontier for Character and Story Telling, December 16, 2004

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Heart of a Goof (Paperback)

While P.G. Wodehouse is well remembered for his many sterling novels about Bertie Wooster and Jeeves, adventures at Blandings Castle involving the Empress of Blandings and the humorous characters, Ukridge and Psmith, he also took on the honorable and noble game of golf as a source of his humor. Heart of a Goof is the second book of short stories he wrote on this topic and displays a more relaxed sense of humor than in any other of his books that I have read. He makes fun of writing about golf, himself for writing the book, his narrator and even those brave denizens of the golf course. I found the book to be hysterically funny in parts.

While I enjoyed all of the stories in the book, I recommend most highly the last three which involve the same characters in a series of stories that link to one another -- Rodney Fails to Qualify, Jane Gets Off the Fairway and The Purification of Rodney Spelvin. Jane Packard and Williams Bates are dedicated golfers who seem destined for one another, except for a romantic streak in Jane that takes her off to greener pastures from time to time. Rodney Spelvin is her continual tempter with his poetic career and artsy ways. Rodney's ignorance of golf proves to be his Achilles heel.

Each story is introduced by that old reprobate, the Oldest Member, who lies in wait around the golf course waiting for someone to let him bend their ear with another lengthy story. Every club has such a person, and readers will remember many occasions of arriving home hours late after having been waylaid by such a person at their golf club.

The Heart of a Goof is one of the funniest golf stories I have read. It captures the ironies of golf very well. Golf humbles even the mightiest of us, and our greatest failures may follow soon after our sweetest swings.

High Stakes looks at that favorite golfing activity, the bet, in a new light and builds a hilarious scenario around what a dedicated golfer will do to pursue his passions. Keeping in with Vosper continues the same story line and is a very funny look at the effects of an anti-Jeeves manservant.

Chester forgets himself explores a common Wodehouse theme, the fellow who tries to pretend he is better than he is and turns off his love's interest in the process.

The Magic Plus Fours will remind many readers of Dumbo's magic feather and its ability to influence his confidence, that most elusive of all golfing qualities.

The Awakening of Podmarsh looks at that most delicious of all golfing experiences, having a career round. It will bring back happy memories to any golfer.

Fore!