cover image Swinging from My Heels: Confessions of an LPGA Star

Swinging from My Heels: Confessions of an LPGA Star

Alan Shipnuck, Christina Kim, . . Bloomsbury, $25 (228pp) ISBN 978-1-60819-088-1

In this diary-style memoir written with Shipnuck (Bud, Sweat & Tees ), golf pro Kim declares she is always happy to be the person at a party “who makes an ass of herself.” The outspoken 25-year-old from San Jose, Calif., also ponders many questions, ranging from “Does my butt look big in this skirt?” to issues of lesbianism, anti-Asian sentiment, and the effect of a down economy on the women's game. Interwoven with a blow-by-blow account of her 2009 tournaments, including details about her frequent changes of equipment and caddies, she tells of her rise as a player and of her sometimes contentious relationship with her father, who initially coached, managed, and caddied for her when she turned pro at 18. Readers learn much about her boyfriends, including a long-term love affair with a caddie that ended as her 2009 season began, and she reveals that “it's not easy to get laid on the LPGA tour.” She also shares her love for Twitter, shopping (she has 75 pairs of shoes), singer Jason Mraz (who autographed her prodigious cleavage), and the environment. She also tells her story about posing nude for ESPN magazine. The promised “confessions,” however, are far from surprising, and the accounts of her golf rounds will interest only the most obsessed of fans. (May)