Customer Reviews

The Heart of a Goof

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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.

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.

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!

Nine golf stories by P. G. Wodehouse, the Bach of humor fiction. Wodehouse's golf stories are among his best, perhaps because, as a golfer himself, he understood the absurd passion one can have for the game. This is the best of his golf story collections because every one of the stories uses the framing device of being told by the Oldest Member. Which is not to say that you shouldn't search for The Golf Omnibus, which has all 31. But the almost mathematical elegance and consistancy of this collection set it apart.

Almost anyone will find the 9 short stories in this collection enjoyable. For golfers, this is a can't miss collection.

That being said, "Heart of a Goof" doesn't rate 5 stars. They are not quite on the level of Wodehouse's "Jeeves and Wooster" stories. Furthermore, I found the story's structures annoying after a while: In each story, a younger club member starts a casual conversation with the "Oldest Member," then fails to escape in time to avoid the old guy's narration of the story. This was a clever construction in story #1, getting old by story #5, and downright annoying by story #9.

It's clear that Wodehouse loved golf. But his game differs in some particulars from that which we play today. For example, his talk of "match play" vs. "medal play" might be unintelligible to some golf novices today, and a mention of a casual two-to-three hour 18-hole round will stupefy the modern player accustomed to trudging six hours on a weekend behind a foursome of cart-riders. [Irrelevant aside: I really miss the old names for clubs. Really, would you prefer to swing a 4-iron rather than a "mashie," or a "niblick," or, better yet, a "mashie-niblick"?]

But Wodehouse has it right (from the Preface): "When you turn in a medal score of a hundred and eight on two successive days, you get to know something about life." True.

Granted, you have to brush up a little: "what is a niblik" A 9-Iron of the wooden variety. But the technicalities of a golf long since abandoned, are moot after a moments brush up. These stories relate the amusing world of the fanatic! Harmless, befuddled, confused or misguided, or worldly wisdom that has found a way of life in the hitting of a tiny ball.
Actually, these stories could apply to anyone with an obsession which makes the object of your eye, in essence, the world for you. Star Trek weirdos; Star Wars weirdos; people who think collect dolls--really creepy : Well, the point is: if you can't play golf, why bother being human. Therein lies the art of these tales. They apply to everyone. We all become the "Oldest Member" when we drone on and on about some particular interest that tingles our synapses to the very brain stem! And so, through this Sage, we encounter the lives, the loves and the heart-aches of those who play golf--and the infidels who do not!
Recommended set of Wodehouse shorts; but the last three are interconnected into a sort of novelette within a book of short stories themed around the only truly human endeavor worth following whilst here on planet earth: Golf!
Light-hearted. If you enjoy the crazed mania of the enthusiast, mixed with tales of romance and life around his enthusiasm, you'll enjoy: "Heart of a Goof".
I knew they weren't meant to be: he wrote poetry; and she had shot 9 holes way under par :)

W.

This book was highly recommended in Book Lust as the funniest novel about golf ever. having read other recommendations from that book, I would vouch for this one although I bought it as a gift and haven't read it.

I have never played golf and never plan to. But making this book makes me feel...that I am perfectly correct in my feelings. Golf can take over your life, your marriage and your whole way of thinking. Nine wonderful stories, nine funny, wonderful, knee slapping, chuckling in the bus, choking on a sausage at breakfast, stories that make life worth living. Well, maybe not that funny, but we are taking about P.G. Wodehouse, whose control of the human language makes Presidents of the US of A sound like morons. I mean when we had Presidents who were smart - you know back in the days. When they played golf.
Really, the strength of Wodehouse's writing is the focus - human nature. No matter what the setting, the cloths, the objects, class, food, or house the story is set in, he knows his fellow man. Characters are not characters, they are real people. Some of which you know. I bet a few golf players nodded their heads and said, "by Jove, I know THAT character. Had lunch with him last Tuesday. Nice chap. Terrible golf player."
Good book. Wonderful book. And he has other books out there, on golf, Jeeves, and other subjects on life. And you should see what he says about his daughter even before you get into the preface!