Customer Reviews

Tales from the Gator Swamp

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Jack Hairston is a very respected sportswriter, and I enjoyed many of the anecdotes in his book. However, I think that the book is too anecdotal. Jack apparently sent out requests to former Gators for anecdotes, including the funniest things that ever happened to them. The book is a compilation of those responses, and it is organized around the subjects of those tales. I would have preferred that the book be organized differently, perhaps chronologically, with Jack using his archival knowledge to give us some text history of each generation of Florida Football along with the amusing anecdotes.

The last two chapters are completely out of place and belong in another book. Ch. 35, entitled "An Opponent to Remember" is about Coach Bill "Pete" Peterson of FSU infamy. While Coach Pete was an hilarious figure and some of the anecdotes are laugh-out-loud funny, they don't belong in a book about Florida Football. Nor does the last chapter entitled, "Barbara Dooley's Bama Trip". Although somewhat amusing, I didn't buy this book to read about a Dawg coach's wife.

All in all, however, the book is certainly worth its purchase price. It just could have been better had Jack used his formidable writing skills to weave history and humor together.