Rub of the Green [Paperback]

William Hallberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 14, 1998

Hailed by bestselling author Walker Percy as "brilliant and highly original," this funny, touching, and very moving novel by the author of The Soul of Golf chronicles one man's glorious victories and bitter defeats in the most challenging sport of all: life.

The son of a devoutly golf-hating dad, Ted Kendall comes to embrace the sport as a way to soothe his grief after his mother's death. Then his knack with a club lands him a scholarship to Ohio State--and soon he's driving and putting his way through the electrifying and glamorous world of the PGA tour.

The grass is greener and life is good until a love triangle on the links goes bad, and Ted trades his bag of irons for the iron bars of a jail in the deeper than Deep South. With two years to kill alongside a motley crew of fellow misfit inmates, Ted turns once more to the gospel of golf--and finds his own odd brand of salvation.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Six months earlier, newly minted pro-golfer Ted Kendall's future seemed perfectly laid out. His sport was a euphoric obsession that felt like an art form. His love life was a confused mess, but he thought he could bear it. And now, all of a sudden, he is serving two years' time in a Mississippi jail for committing vehicular assault on erstwhile golfing buddy and bete noire Dave Traynham. How can he have gone so wrong? It's difficult to imagine a literate golf enthusiast who wouldn't enjoy this paean to the sport in the guise of a novel. But you really don't need to be able to distinguish a divot fork from a fairway bunker to appreciate a gracefully written narrative that is, in effct, a profound meditation on the uses and meaning of all sport. In one revealing passage, narrator Kendall muses over the intricacies of a golf course constructed by Donald Ross, one of the great practitioners of the form. Ross's plan, he notes, punishes a bad shot as predictably as the sun goes down but nearly always rewards a good one. To combine such honesty with natural beauty is as clean an artistic statement as any man could make, he says. In this remarkable debut, Hallberg demonstrates that real sport (as opposed to the ballyhoo of big-time professional contests) is ideal in the Keatsian sense of art, a metaphor for life.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

This first novel is about golf as both total immersion experience and substitute for life. For Ted Kendall, golf is an escape from messy human emotions; he takes it up as a way of dealing withor avoiding dealing withthe pain of his mother's dying. The novel shifts back and forth from the present, which finds Ted in prison, occupying himself with redesigning and rebuilding the prison's two-hole golf course, to the past and the tangled relationships which led him to try to kill his best friend with a car. Nongolfers can appreciate this excellent novel, but golfers will love it; the game is described with lyricism and passion. Marylaine Block, St. Ambrose Univ. Lib., Davenport, Ia.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 325 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (April 14, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345417496
• ISBN-13: 978-0345417497
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,523,863 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For anyone who appreciates golf or wishes they did -, January 27, 2008

By 

Bear Evans "Bear" (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rub of the Green (Paperback)

Hallberg's first novel is a fascinating account of the trials and tribulations of a rookie PGA Tour golfer told with flashbacks in alternating chapters to give some context to his current incarceration for trying to run over his best friend and fellow golf pro. Shades of Carl Hiassen. The prison farm where he ends up has what was once a 2-hole golf course and our hero, with much initial reluctance, brings it back to life over the course of his sentence - bringing himself back to life and golf at the same time. When he finally decides to play the restored course with a fellow con as his caddie, we know he's rediscovered more than just his swing. A good read that delivers all the elements - interesing story, characters you care about and some unique insights into what golf does for the psyche. Highly recommended.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars classic "must have" for any avid golfer, November 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Rub of the Green (Paperback)

The dual story lines and time frames keeps the reader interested. This is a keeper for any golfer, especially father-son combos. The main character's love for the greatest game was portrayed brilliantly no mater what life offered him.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I can't wait to get my hands on it again!!, March 19, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Rub of the Green (Paperback)

I've read this book several times and still find new details each time. The author is brilliant in his format of two story lines...it truly keeps the reader hooked. William Hallberg provides wonder images and is obviously both very passionate about his writing and his golf game.