Thursday, March 25, 2010

Book Review: "The Kiss That Caused My Slice" by John Ducker

I love hearing from creative golfers who chose to express themselves in some way other than just another book about some golfer of yore or the magical swing plane discovery they made on some driving range in Omaha, Nebraska. John Ducker, fellow member of The Golf Space, has produced a great book of short little golf stories, told poetry style. Think of it as "Homer meets PG Wodehouse". The author clearly is a devoted golfer himself, and his passion for the game comes through in every piece he writes. His book has 18 stories in it, one for each hole on the golf course. Each little story is accompanied by a gorgeous picture of a golf hole from a course you've never heard of. The stories are told in rhyme, and they're light-hearted and funny and well written. At times they made me laugh out loud, and even my non-golfing spouse enjoyed the parts I read our loud to her. Some of John's stories stem from his own play on the course, and some are sheer fantasy. A handicap-1 playing fortune-teller makes an appearance, as does Madonna, Prince, and Michael Jackson (John is clearly a child of the 80s, which I can relate to). There are cavemen playing on a 20-hole course, and subtle pop culture references throughout. SCORE: Birdie. Creative, unusual, and stemming from a deep-seated passion for the game of golf in general as well as the author's own golf game. It's well written and entertaining. "The Kiss That Caused My Slice" is a great addition to anyone's golf library, and it may be just the sort of thing that turns your literature-loving significant other onto the game.

3 comments:

  1. Wonderful review of a wonderful book. I'd say it rates an eagle, but then again, I've never had one....

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  2. This review is right on, and I love the poems. I got the book from Amazon. I think is was $15. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

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  3. Self-depricating humour in rhyme? Sign me up!I found it extremely entertaining to read this with a Jim Nantz voice in my head.

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