Product Description

When acclaimed golf writer James Dodson leaves his home in Maine to revisit Pinehurst, North Carolina, where his father first taught him the game that would shape his life and career, he’s at a point where he has lost direction. But once there, the curative power of the sandhills region not only helps him find a new career working for the local paper but also reignites his flagging passion for the game of golf. And, perhaps more significantly, it inspires him to try to pass along to his teenage son the same sense of joy and contentment he has found in the game, and to recall the many colorful and lifelong friends he has met on the links.

This wise memoir about finding new meaning through an old sport is filled with anecdotes about the history of the game and of Pinehurst, the home of American golf, where many larger-than-life legends played some of their greatest rounds. Dodson's bestselling memoir Final Rounds began in Pinehurst twenty-five years ago, and now A Son of the Game completes the circle as it follows his journey of discovery back to where his love of the game began—a love that he hopes to make a family legacy.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #147414 in Books
• Published on: 2009-05-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 292 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781565125063
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Given that it's written by one of the sport's premier chroniclers and is set mostly in and around the bucolic grounds of Southern Pines, N.C.—a resort town based mostly on the pursuit of golfing—there is surprisingly little golf in this homey memoir, though that's probably for the best. Dodson (Ben Hogan; Final Rounds) recounts how he was gripped by a midlife crisis after a shakeup at his magazine and the deaths of several close friends and family members. These events, plus a desire to give his son the same memories of golf that his father imparted to him, sent the Maine journalist scampering back to his Southern childhood home. Although Dodson knows perfectly well that possibly uprooting his whole family is little more than indulging a chance to live out a boyhood fantasy of being a smalltown newspaper man, he makes the idea as appealing as possible. There is not much forward momentum in this excessively ambling and self-satisfied work, and it suffers from Dodson's tendency to record conversations with a level of detail that sometimes strains credibility. However, it's all painted in a glossy, buttery hue of such fine vintage nostalgia that it's all the reader can do by the end to not immediately light out for the central North Carolina hill country. (Apr.)
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From Booklist
Dodson, author of the popular memoir Final Rounds (1996), revisits fathers, sons, and golf with this story of his return to Pinehurst, North Carolina, often considered the home of golf in America. For Dodson, it is also his own home, the place where his father introduced him to golf and where he hopes to inspire the same passion for the game in his teenage son. Turning down assignments from national magazines, Dodson takes a part-time job as “writer-in-residence” for a small newspaper in the Pinehurst area and moves into a cottage, juggling between North Carolina and his home and family in Maine. The fabled Sandhills, home not only to Pinehurst but also to dozens of other world-class golf courses, prove the perfect tonic for Dodson’s incipient midlife crisis, restoring both his sense of his past and his love of golf. This slow-paced, eulogistic memoir draws on the deep, near-archetypal feelings that dedicated golfers have for the game, its history, and their own connections to the fathers and mentors who first put clubs in their hands. A bit sentimental, to be sure, but, in Pinehurst, that’s the rub of the green. --Bill Ott

Review

"Dodson’s lack of pretense and his wealth of conviviality give readers a sense of investment in the man and his modest work, which is long on sentiment but not extravagantly so. A humane, insightful memoir of elemental composure and meaning regained." –Kirkus

“Draws on the deep, near archetypal feelings that dedicated golfers have for the game, its history, and their own connections to the fathers and mentors who first put clubs in their hands."—Booklist

“Painted in a glossy, buttery hue of such vintage nostalgia that it’s all the reader can do by the end to not immediately light out for the central North Carolina hill country.”—Publishers Weekly

Customer Reviews

A Son of the Game
This is an excellent and enjoyable book. I previously read James Dodson's book about Ben Hogan and enjoyed his writing style, this is what caused me to pick up this book. I thourouly enjoyed this book and found myself reluctant to put it down. If you have a son or daughter and have taught them the game this will even mean more to you.

I really wish James could have had some more time with Harvie Ward because I would love to read a book about him. It has always intriqued me about his talent and how he dissappeared into obscurity.

If you are interested in golf, the history of golf and the people affected by the game, this book is for you.

I highly recommend this book.

Pinehurst - The best town in America
A Son of the Game is an awesome read. perfectly befitting of the saying "the smaller the ball, the better the writing."

The stories of Pinehurst are wonderfully told. I like about three million other people knew Harvie Ward. I was blessed to have him teach me golf as a teenager and adult. Jim tells his story wonderfully.

A pleasing return to the sandhills of Pinehurst
For golfers age 17-70. James Dodson's best-selling memoir "Final Rounds" got me hooked years ago and now "A Son of the Game" follows his marvelous journey of familial renewal and the positive impact of the game upon family members. It takes us all back to where a love of the game finds its genesis for many American golfers. A lover of the game and all the courses at Pinehurst, I could not put it down. Dodson's smooth swing is exceeded only by his superb writing skills. Enjoy! John E. Cashwell