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A Son of the Game: A Story of Golf, Going Home, and Sharing Life's Lessons
 
 
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A Son of the Game: A Story of Golf, Going Home, and Sharing Life's Lessons [Hardcover]

James Dodson (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)

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Book Description

May 12, 2009
When acclaimed golf writer James Dodson leaves his home in Maine to revisit Pinehurst, North Carolina, where his father first taught him the game that would shape his life and career, he’s at a point where he has lost direction. But once there, the curative power of the sandhills region not only helps him find a new career working for the local paper but also reignites his flagging passion for the game of golf. And, perhaps more significantly, it inspires him to try to pass along to his teenage son the same sense of joy and contentment he has found in the game, and to recall the many colorful and lifelong friends he has met on the links.

This wise memoir about finding new meaning through an old sport is filled with anecdotes about the history of the game and of Pinehurst, the home of American golf, where many larger-than-life legends played some of their greatest rounds. Dodson's bestselling memoir Final Rounds began in Pinehurst twenty-five years ago, and now A Son of the Game completes the circle as it follows his journey of discovery back to where his love of the game began—a love that he hopes to make a family legacy.

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A Son of the Game: A Story of Golf, Going Home, and Sharing Life's Lessons + Final Rounds: A Father, A Son, The Golf Journey Of A Lifetime + Ben Hogan: An American Life
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Given that it's written by one of the sport's premier chroniclers and is set mostly in and around the bucolic grounds of Southern Pines, N.C.—a resort town based mostly on the pursuit of golfing—there is surprisingly little golf in this homey memoir, though that's probably for the best. Dodson (Ben Hogan; Final Rounds) recounts how he was gripped by a midlife crisis after a shakeup at his magazine and the deaths of several close friends and family members. These events, plus a desire to give his son the same memories of golf that his father imparted to him, sent the Maine journalist scampering back to his Southern childhood home. Although Dodson knows perfectly well that possibly uprooting his whole family is little more than indulging a chance to live out a boyhood fantasy of being a smalltown newspaper man, he makes the idea as appealing as possible. There is not much forward momentum in this excessively ambling and self-satisfied work, and it suffers from Dodson's tendency to record conversations with a level of detail that sometimes strains credibility. However, it's all painted in a glossy, buttery hue of such fine vintage nostalgia that it's all the reader can do by the end to not immediately light out for the central North Carolina hill country. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Dodson, author of the popular memoir Final Rounds (1996), revisits fathers, sons, and golf with this story of his return to Pinehurst, North Carolina, often considered the home of golf in America. For Dodson, it is also his own home, the place where his father introduced him to golf and where he hopes to inspire the same passion for the game in his teenage son. Turning down assignments from national magazines, Dodson takes a part-time job as “writer-in-residence” for a small newspaper in the Pinehurst area and moves into a cottage, juggling between North Carolina and his home and family in Maine. The fabled Sandhills, home not only to Pinehurst but also to dozens of other world-class golf courses, prove the perfect tonic for Dodson’s incipient midlife crisis, restoring both his sense of his past and his love of golf. This slow-paced, eulogistic memoir draws on the deep, near-archetypal feelings that dedicated golfers have for the game, its history, and their own connections to the fathers and mentors who first put clubs in their hands. A bit sentimental, to be sure, but, in Pinehurst, that’s the rub of the green. --Bill Ott

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 292 pages
  • Publisher: Algonquin Books (May 12, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1565125061
  • ISBN-13: 978-1565125063
  • Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #684,445 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

9 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Son of the Game, August 21, 2009
This review is from: A Son of the Game: A Story of Golf, Going Home, and Sharing Life's Lessons (Hardcover)
This is an excellent and enjoyable book. I previously read James Dodson's book about Ben Hogan and enjoyed his writing style, this is what caused me to pick up this book. I thourouly enjoyed this book and found myself reluctant to put it down. If you have a son or daughter and have taught them the game this will even mean more to you.

I really wish James could have had some more time with Harvie Ward because I would love to read a book about him. It has always intriqued me about his talent and how he dissappeared into obscurity.

If you are interested in golf, the history of golf and the people affected by the game, this book is for you.

I highly recommend this book.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Son of the Game, September 12, 2009
This review is from: A Son of the Game: A Story of Golf, Going Home, and Sharing Life's Lessons (Hardcover)
Like no other author Mr. Dodson captures the heart & soul of golf. Through his own experiences, and that of family and friends he brings the sport so many toil over for hours, a refreshing life and reality.

More importantly he captures much more than the passion golfers have for this game, he tells the story of life which parallels the ups-and-downs this game show us so well.

Great stuff Mr. Dodson!

Thank you for another great read!
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Pinehurst - The best town in America, July 7, 2009
This review is from: A Son of the Game: A Story of Golf, Going Home, and Sharing Life's Lessons (Hardcover)
A Son of the Game is an awesome read. perfectly befitting of the saying "the smaller the ball, the better the writing."

The stories of Pinehurst are wonderfully told. I like about three million other people knew Harvie Ward. I was blessed to have him teach me golf as a teenager and adult. Jim tells his story wonderfully.
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