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 enlarge | Author: John Feinstein
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Category: Book
List Price: $7.50
Buy Used: $1.50
You Save: $6.00 (80%)
New (35) Used (42) from $1.50
Rating:  59 reviews
Sales Rank: 209829
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 680
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 6.6 x 4.2 x 1
ISBN: 0316011541
Dewey Decimal Number: 796
EAN: 9780316011549
ASIN: 0316011541
Publication Date: May 1, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Some wear on book from reading, we guarantee all purchases and ship all items via USPS mail.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Great book January 7, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I first read this book years ago, and have since read it again. This is one great book. If you are even remotely interested in golf and/or the goings-on of the PGA Tour, read this book.
 A Fascinating Grind November 22, 2006
A season long walk during the 1993-1994 PGA season, with background on the players, shot by shot commentary from key tournaments, insights into Q-school and descriptions of the lonely stressful life of a PGA professional.
The impact of this book is lessened due to the fact that the game has changed so much and many of the players and their analyses do not have the same relevance they had when the book was written. Many of the profiles and tournament thrills were not as interesting for this reason.
However, where the book really did excel was to introduce the less informed connoisseur of golf about the amazing grind these players endure season after season. The real story is not about the top 10 players in the world, but about the hundreds of other golfers trying to live a dream and beat the odds through a grueling ranking system to make it to the "tour". The pressure of making it to the tour and beyond is fascinating.
The book gives you a new perspective and appreciation when watching a tournament, along with a new respect for achievements made by the players in the game.
The pre-Tiger tour June 11, 2006
John Feinstein's "A Good Walk Spoiled" follows a handful of professional golfers through the ups and downs of the 1993 and 1994 PGA tour seasons. The book offers plenty of colorful commentary on the lives that these players live both inside and outside the ropes. The story begins with a dramatic retelling of the 1993 Ryder Cup at the Belfry. The chapters that follow focus on individual players and events, including both highlights and lowlights of the 1993-1994 seasons.
"A Good Walk Spoiled" is a nice glimpse of the PGA tour pre-Tiger. Although the pressure and drama haven't changed, the book feels dated with all that has transpired in the past 12 years. To his credit, Feinstein doesn't throw bouquets at everything he sees. He gains credibility in voicing his dismay for some of the unsavory aspects of the game (John Daly's antics; Greg Norman's ill-fated attempts to launch the World Tour).
Feinstein works hard to keep the book lively and interesting. But he probably tried a little too hard. The chapters bounce around schizophrenically, offering anecdotes of superstars, untested rookies, and unknown journeymen from one page to the next. It's fun at first, but you don't come away from the book feeling that you've gotten to know the personalities of the PGA tour in any depth. The book is like a trip around the putt-putt course with the kiddoes, rather than a satisfying round at a well designed course. Don't get me wrong. Feinstein is a fine writer. But his skills seem better applied in "A Season on the Brink".
One of the classics... December 14, 2005
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is a must read for any serious fan of golf, but the casual fan will enjoy it too. Feinstein takes the reader into the minds and emotions of professional golfers of all levels during a season on the PGA Tour. Particularly compelling is his description of the struggling pros trying to make it through Q School. Any person who's ever worked hard for a goal or a dream only to come up short will identify with these players. Feinstein weaves those narratives brilliantly with the players on the top of the golf world and shows how they too struggle with the game despite being the best in the world.
 Golfing Gossip at a Grinding Pace September 13, 2004
3 out of 7 found this review helpful
I guess I am the only reviewer who found this book tedious and banal. It's more a series of thumbnail biographies of pga tour players, linked together through weekly accounts of pga tour stops, than anything else. Feinstein's writing seems to move along at a brisk enough pace, but after several chapters, I found one event starting to blend into the next, one Q school qualifier after another, one harrowing tournament finish after another, and so on, and so on. Feinstein's writing verges on being formulaic- it's all written in a sort of breathless, anxiety filled pace, as the nail biting details of who's missing the cut, who's choking under pressure, whose marriage is on the rocks, who's in danger of returning to Q school all gets mixed together in a swill of golf gossip and insider minutia.
What I found missing in this harried chronicle is any sign of the transcendental joy that marks golf at it's best. It's almost as if Feinstein writes to show us how miserable and unbearably tense the world of professional golf is.
While some of the details he provides are interesting, overall I found the book repetitive and lacking in the sort of poetry that the best sports writing sometimes achieves.
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