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The Caddie Who Knew Ben Hogan (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "MEMORIES ARE MAGIC..." (more)
Key Phrases: Ben Hogan, Matt Richardson, Chicago Open (more...)

4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Known more for his novels of the macabre, Coyne moves onto the links and comes up with a terrific blend of golfing lore, PGA tournament drama and country club soap opera. It's 1946, and Jack Handley is a 14-year-old caddy at a posh country club near Chicago. He loves the game, and his mother needs the money. When Ben Hogan shows up one day to play a practice round before the Open, Jack caddies for Hogan and for Jack's pal, assistant pro Matt Richardson, as the two men play a not-very-friendly round. Coyne's descriptions of the strained practice round and the gripping first day of the Chicago Open are masterful sports fiction, with Jack reliving every drive, chip and putt, adding savvy golf tips and caddy tricks. Add in Jack's entanglement in Matt's secret romance with the daughter of the club's rich and powerful president, and anecdotes of other legendary players (like Jimmy Demaret, Gene Sarazen and Lefty Stackhouse), and the results rank with James Dodson's nonfiction, and John Corrigan's PGA golf mysteries. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

When golf novelists reach for profundity, they invariably trot out either God or Ben Hogan. Often, there is little distinction between the two, with Hogan dispensing wisdom in godlike fashion. Coyne builds his novel around the revered Hogan, too, but he loses the fantasy element. The frame story has an author speaking to a gathering of country-club members in Chicago about his experiences caddying for Ben Hogan in 1946, when the Chicago Open was held at the club. His tale involves a talented assistant pro, whose romance with the daughter of the club president threatens his chance to compete against Hogan. Our narrator caddies for Hogan in a practice round and then finds himself forced to choose between a job with the great man and his loyalty to the assistant pro. The interpersonal story line descends quickly into melodrama, but Coyne nails the golf scenes. Whether describing Hogan's surgeonlike style, or relaying the shot-by-shot drama of a match, he never makes a bad swing--no sloppy metaphors, no wrong-club howlers, only precise prose in service to that most precise of athletic motions, the golf swing. Bill Ott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books (May 2, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312355238
ISBN-13: 978-0312355234
Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 1.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces

Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #783,861 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
MEMORIES ARE MAGIC. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Ben Hogan, Matt Richardson, Chicago Open, Kenny Burke, Sarah Dupree, Ralph Gates, Doc Hughes, New York, Fort Worth, Jimmy Demaret, Smith College, Cottage Row Drive, Doug Hughes, Henry Picard, Sam Snead, The Go-Between, Tiger Woods, Valerie Hogan, British Open, Eugenio Saraceni, French Lick, Glen Garden, Harry Vardon, Jeff Burke

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 9 books:

Power Golf by Ben Hogan in Front Matter, and page 70
Ben Hogan: The Man Behind The Mystique by Martin Davis in Front Matter
Afternoons with Mr. Hogan by Jody Vasquez in Front Matter
The Heart of Midlothian by Sir Walter Scott on page 27
Living on the Edge: Fiction by Peace Corps Writers by John Coyne in Front Matter

See all 9 books this book cites

Books on Related Topics (learn more)

David Feherty's Totally Subjective History of the Ryder Cup by David Feherty

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The 500 World's Greatest Golf Holes by George Peper

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A Golfer's Life by Arnold Palmer

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Count The Pines by J. B. Broadmoore

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	79% buy the item featured on this page: The Caddie Who Knew Ben Hogan 4.6 out of 5 stars (22)
	7% buy The Caddie Who Played with Hickory 4.4 out of 5 stars (10) $10.17
	5% buy Afternoons with Mr. Hogan 4.0 out of 5 stars (2) $5.20
	4% buy Ben Hogan: An American Life 4.8 out of 5 stars (24) $11.53

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Customer Reviews

22 Reviews

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
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Average Customer Review

4.6 out of 5 stars (22 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Golf Story Ever!!!, June 14, 2006

By	Patrick M. Hodgdon "looper4life" (Naples, FL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you love golf, you will love this book. If you're a caddy, you love this book. If you love characters rich in wisdom, life, and love, you'll love this book. If you love a good story, you'll love this book. In other words there is no way you won't love this book. Coyne's prose is as smooth and powerful as Hogan's swing and much like the Hawk himself, Coyne hits his target with precision and ease while always leading the reader to the next shot. With this novel Coyne just might have birdied every hole too. Buy this book, it's the story about life you've always wanted to read. Read it, you won't regret it.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A really great golf read...Coyne connects with The Caddy......, May 24, 2006

By	Jim Thompson "Jim Thompson" (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

A masterful fiction writer whose story telling and intimate Hogan truths and legends make this an exciting novel for all readers...Golf aside, an intriguing love story and interesting take on country club mores. Read it!

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb Novel, July 15, 2006

By	John K. Crane (SANTA FE, NM) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is an excellent, truly wonderful novel. For an author known more for Gothic horror stories, this is a major shift to the golf course, a game he obviously plays and loves. He must also have been a caddie, for he knows all of the lingo. The reader does not have to be a golfer, for all such terms are defined in the text. Structurally it is built around two tense matches between Ben Hogan and the assistant club pro, Matt Richardson. The point of view is the caddie, Jack Handley. The first match is Hogan's practice match, the second the first round of the Chicago Open (in which Richardson somehow makes the cut). Another device Mr. Coyne uses is dual narrative structures--the first (which dominates) is Jack telling, decades later, his story of the Hogan-Richardson matches when he was 14 years old. I might add that it does not ring true that an audience could sit through 250 pages worth of this. The third-person narrative is set years later when Jack returns to his former club to recount the Chicago Open after having become a professor who's written a famous book on golf.
There is an air of tension throughout because Jack tells the reader early, almost between the lines, that the story will end in tragedy. One assumes it will be a lost tournament, but it is a real tragedy in which a central character dies. Besides telling a story that locks the reader's interest, Mr. Coyne is a true master of his craft: metaphors ("Matt gave me a grin as if he had just won the lottery, the Open, and the girl of his dreams. I [was] feeling as I had just robbed a bank"); speaks directly to the reader ("On a humid day, as you players know, the ball will carry farther"); humor, as when two characters have to go French Lick, Indiana, because there was no blood test required nor a three-day waiting period ("'Even I, a fourteen-year-old, knew about French Lick, which was named, I might add, for the salt springs in the area and not lascivious behavior.'") There is also continual contrast between the post-War equipment golfers were forced to use--factories had been converted for wartime--and the clubs most people now see on TV. 1946 to 2006 does not seem to have improved professional scores very much.
But Mr. Coyne's strong suit is constant tension, both hole-by-hole and by the tragedy that will conclude the novel. If Jack the caddie is the main character, the source of the book's wisdom is Ben Hogan. Jack Handley is a different man because of his brief meetings with him. The Caddie Who Knew Ben Hogan is a truly rewarding book for golfer and non-golfer alike.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars If you're a Hogan fan, you'll love this
The author did his homework of reading a lot about Hogan to capture the "Wee Ice Mon's" behavior and character (as I'd like to believe it). Read more

Published 1 month ago by G. Wood

5.0 out of 5 stars Good read
After reading this, I immediately ordered the other "caddie" book by Coyne from the local library (The Caddie Who Played with Hickory; a novel about Walter Hagen). Read more

Published 5 months ago by James H. Beauchamp

4.0 out of 5 stars A Simple and Moving Story about Golf and Life
This is a great story for people who love golf and enjoy reading about the Ben Hogan mystique. It's also a strong relationship story, as told by a young caddy who "loops" not only... Read more

Published 7 months ago by Chandler Phillips

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Read
I enjoyed this easy to read book. It's hard to tell that it's a fictional book. Entertaining.

Published 11 months ago by Kevin C. Brown

4.0 out of 5 stars A Golf Writer's Delight
With very, very few exceptions, golf novels are notoriously bad, full of mystical nonsense and clich�s. Read more

Published 21 months ago by David Donelson

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Novel for Golf Addicts
Thoroughly enjoyed this novel. Coyne does a great job bringing the post WWII era to life as well as the insights on the pro tour back then. Read more

Published 21 months ago by R. Hyde

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful read
I really loved this book. The author did a tremendous job of weaving historical facts about Hogan (one of the legends of the game) into a compelling, yet tragic story.

Published on August 14, 2007 by Wayne Hastings

4.0 out of 5 stars Very entertaining
I loved this book. It had me turning pages faster and faster. Really good read if you love golf. As I read the book I could imagine all the shots that were being made. Read more

Published on July 31, 2007 by John R. Hornady

5.0 out of 5 stars Golfers, a great read. Literati, a nice read, especially if you dabble in the game of golf.
Hey! This is a great read. You'll finish the book in 2 days or less--and that's a great compliment to the author John Coyne. Read more

Published on July 1, 2007 by RCB

2.0 out of 5 stars Hogan portrayed poorly
I have no problem with a little historical fiction. It's among my favorite genres. My problem is with how Coyne portrays legendary golfer, Ben Hogan. Read more

Published on September 27, 2006 by JW Fowler

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