The best of Barkow, a veteran golf writer and former editor of Golf
magazine, is well worth the admission price. This candid collection contains golfer profiles, memorable golf moments, informed observations and personal anecdotes. Culled from a plethora of golf magazines, digests and newspapers (e.g., the New York Times) published over the last 31 years, these 47 sports reveries will entertain, inform and inspire. You'll learn how in 1955 Ben Hogan sued A.S. Barnes (his own publishing company) and won athletes the right to control and profit from their own image. Walter Hagen created much of his own PR, recognizing (before others did) that profits could be made from good copy. The garrulous Lee Trevino proves you don't need to be a bland automaton to succeed at golf. Even more fun are some of the early characters of golf lore who have disappeared from the headlines. Newcomers to the game will thrill to the exploits of Lefty Stackhouse, who once threw himself into a briar bush after a particularly bad drive and insisted on being left there in his bleeding, self-crucified glory. Then there's Marty Fleckman, who at 23 was well on his way to a successful career when he did the unthinkable—took a golf lesson and lost his swing. Barkow also waxes poetic on gamesmanship, the art of psyching out your opponent, and his early days caddying for the mob at Chicago's Tam O'Shanter Country Club. Short chapters and great stories make this a quick, easy read for true lovers of the game. (Oct.)
