Customer Reviews
One of our finest young purveyors of witty prose - By: B. W. Jenner, 14 Nov 2008 
I haven't played golfin years, but I write lots of golf speeches, which means I need to get some ideas & a feel for the game. I took a risk on Tom Cox, & I was handsomely rewarded. His prose is just sublime, like Guy Browning or Marcus Berkmann, he rolls out beautiful self-deprecatory sentences, one after the other, that keep you giggling for hours. Pity he couldn't play golf like that.
What I really liked about it was the rather melancholy wisdom. To play at the highest level you need to be very narrowly focused, & take everything incredibly seriously. My childhood dream was to be a politician, but it's the same thingin that field, the ones who are heading to the top, limit & constrain themselvesin ways that I find perverse & sad. Tom Cox is a 'character' & humorous English prose is richer for it, even if golf isn't.
Mr A. Allwright. Philistine. My advice - A MUST BUY. - By: Mrs. R. M. Mitchell, 16 Sep 2008 Mr Allwright seems to have missed the pointin its entirety (see his (weak) amazon review). He is clearly a (golfing, humour, general) philistine.
Managed to nick this literature from husband who was annoying me by laughing every page, per night, up until Chapter 3. So I swooped. It was mine.
I laughed until it was completed, & like the best books, looked forward to getting to bed to savour the next unfolding.
Cox depicts the soul destroying nature of life on (Europro.........if you say it quick enough it sounds like European.....) Tour heart wrenchingly & acutely. Cox is self depreciatingly honest throughout. His conclusions are appropriately respectful, but endearingly reassuring that real life exists above & beyond life on tour....... if that's what you want....
I think why this book appeals is rootedin the fact the challenges, magic, frustrations & joy of golf are the same whether you are Tiger Woods or Jim Bob Novice Amateur. This is why the book is so clever. It tells a story of golf at a very specific level, but anyone at all who has experienced any level of the game will empathise with the tale it tells - with all the up & downs along the way (no pun intended).
So buy it, & ignore Mr Allwright who has clearly had a personality & soul bypass.
MUST READ FOR ALL GOLF FANATICS - By: Mr. Christopher Banner, 08 Aug 2008 A great, great read. A real pleasant change from autobiographies & coaching manuals. Tom's year as a professional is a real emotional rollercoaster & the caractersin Tom's book relate to peoplein golf clubs the length & bredth of the UK. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
I'm glad somebody did it for me, so I didn't have to! - By: Middle Aged Metal, 04 Feb 2008 A hugely enjoying & highly entertaining read from start to finish.
Once Tom got my interestin the opening pages of the book, my interest only intensified as I got further & further into the book. The anticipation of seeing what new mini disaster he could get himself into, coupled with the slight glimmer of hope that there would be some success for him towards the end, just meant that I couldn't put the thing down. Quite literally readin a day!
There is some success for himin the end, although not quitein the way you expect. I guess ultimately the real success to come from Tom's experiment is this brilliantly witty & self deprecating warts & all account of his trials & tribulations throughout his year of swinging with the big boys.
This comes highly recommended.
Great Golfing read! - By: Matt Barker, 03 Feb 2008 A very funny & honest account of another bite at the pro circuit cherry! If you like golf, or even if you don't you will enjoy this book. The ups & downs of the human emotions are all here & it was a pleasure to read. A must for the bedside table or plane or swimming pool!
