The Putt at the End of the World

Regrouping a few of Standiford's Naked Came the Manatee gang, this outrageously funny, multi-authored novel by (in order of tee times) Standiford, Ridley Pearson, Tami Hoag, Lee K. Abbott, Tim O'Brien, Richard Bausch, Dave Barry, James W. Hall and James Crumley is a treasure. The world's richest man, computer czar Phillip Bates, invites three exceptional but going-downhill golfers to play a celebrity pro-am on his brand-new course at ancient Rathgarve castle in Scotland. Lured by the serious cash Bates delivers, aging, vision-impaired senior tour member Alfonso Zamora; the incorrigible Rita Shaughnessy, a debauched, long-driving amazon from the LPGA; and Billy Sprague, an amateur champ with a gambling problem all fly to Scotland. Joining the trio is an impressive assortment of world leaders, celebrities and hotshots, but only Bates knows the reason for the decadent, mysterious tournament. Add to the mix an FBI agent who joins operatives in London to stop a terrorist with 20 kilos of Semtex explosive, and all manner of zany things start to happen. The plot to save the world meshes with the plan to party like crazy at the Bates castle, where Fidel Castro, Augusto Pinochet, Tony Blair, Al Gore, Mu'ammar Qaddafi, Brad Pitt, Jane Fonda, Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, Barbara Walters, Hugh Downs, Marlon Brando, Charlton Heston, Madonna, Bob Hope, the pope, Sean Connery, Dan Quayle and other celebs are on hand to witness an exhibition of carnal swing mechanics unrivaled since the orgy scene from Caligula. This droll, absurd fable is just mainstream enough to keep even the nongolfing masses, who don't know a mashie from a niblick, guffawing out loud. (May)