10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fair and compelling examination of the man behind the myth, September 19, 1997
I found this book to be one of the best biographies I've ever read. Sampson leads the reader through the pivotal and formative events of Hogan's life, slowly revealing the character and personality of one of the most complex figures in the history of sports. Most people view sports legends as individuals blessed with an abundance of natural ability and instinct. I was inspired to discover this does not describe Ben Hogan. He was not, by any stretch of imagination, the most talented golfer on tour. To read accounts of his early struggles puts the stunning success he later enjoyed - and the work that enabled him to accomplish that success - in clear perspective. To often, sports biographies are superficial tributes that ignore the complexities of a sport and the men who play it. This is a book that digs deeply into the life of its subject, revealing both the noble and the base. Curt Sampson allows the reader to form his own opinion of the man based on a detailed and objectively rendered portrait. Anyone who truly loves the game of golf needs to read this book.
Rick Mathes
Thousand Oaks, C
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Down The Middle, February 14, 2001
No one knew Ben Hogan, but everyone seemed to revere him. Why? At face value, it's hard to understand because the man was aloof, arrogant - and, often, rude. Nevertheless, golf fans and most of his fellow professionals worshiped the turf he walked on. No writer has done a better job of capturing the Hogan mystique than Curt Sampson does in this fine biography, which is neither critical nor lavish with praise. It's an objective, smoothly written and compelling account of a complex man whose intensity and dedication were unprecedented.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Hogan the man, the golfer, and business founder, April 29, 2004
This review is from: Hogan (Paperback)
When I was growing up the names of Palmer, Nicklaus, Trevino, Player, and their generation were the top competitors. Ben Hogan was a revered name, but one of past glory. His great year of 1953 was in the past. I had heard about his auto accident and his amazing comeback, but this book helped me see the man who "dug it out of the dirt" through hard work, discipline, and ferocious tenacity.
Mr. Hogan started out with less than most. His father's suicide and the family's subsequent poverty didn't leave him with many open paths to success. He found golf and found that it not only matched his physical skills, but was an even better match for his nearly obsessive temperament.
The swing he developed has become the pattern millions of us try to emulate, although he would find our haphazard approach to the game less than useless. Why we love being duffers would be beyond him. He knew how to work and to practice. I still cannot fathom the kind of internal strength it would take to come back from that terrible leg shattering accident when his Cadillac was struck by a bus. He played in great pain for the rest of his life and had four surgeries on his left shoulder. When I realize that his greatest achievements and most of his wins at major tournaments were after the accident I am simply dumbstruck.
Mr. Hogan was a very private and enigmatic figure. Mr. Sampson does a good job in teasing what facts we know into a good story. We get interesting stories from the golf side of his life (mostly stories told about Hogan by others) and those are very enjoyable. However, I like the way Mr. Sampson puts all that in the context of a real person - a real man. Ben Hogan wasn't a fictional character even though the media version of him was a distortion of the actual hard working man who practiced, practiced, and then practiced some more, who loved his wife, Valerie, and built a successful golf equipment business.
Ben Hogan made a long journey through life and I think this book tells the story well.
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