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I love reading about golf, or any sports, and am just interested to know what your fav. golf or sports books are.

Rick Reilly's Who's Your Caddy is No.1 for me, followed by Bud Sweat And Tees.

Pullhook, I'll have to get those out of the library.

I like John Feinstein's books on golf.

My all-time favorite is "At My Side" which I'm vainly trying to get someone to publish! I've got a binder full of rejections, but what the H, what do they know?

While I don't have a favorite, I have recently read Who's Your Caddie?, The Majors, currently reading A Good Walk Spolied. Next will be Caddie For Life. I have also tried finding a bio on Hogan. Have had no such luck. Something has to be out there.

I'm looking for David Feherty's book, Somewhere In Ireland A Village Is Missing An Idiot. I reckon it'd be a good read.

[quote=GenErr]I like John Feinstein's books on golf.
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Anytime Feinstein writes a book about golf, my wife automatically buys it for me. That's why I married her! The book on Bethpage was great and I read it in one sitting.

Pullhook: Great idea for a thread! Like many of us, I'm a sucker for golf books (see subsequent post on this thread). At 1 post per day, I could keep this thread alive for a month.

GenErr: You know, self-publishing is becoming increasingly popular. I don't know much about it, but probably you can find good info in the "Writing/Publishing" or "Reference" section of your local bookstore. Probably in a self-published book! Best wishes! Heck, get some feedback from us right here: start a thread about your book. Don't give too much away, of course, but tell us what it's about (fiction, memoir, what), what challenges you face, etc., and maybe you'll get something useful from us lot.

drstroud: I think Curt Sampson's biography of Hogan, entitled Hogan, is still in print (New York: Broadway Books, 1996; paperback, 262 pages; about $14). It was hailed as the best bio of The Wee Icemon to date, when it appeared. I loved it. On my most recent trip to my local Barnes & Noble, I picked up James Dodson's Ben Hogan: An American Life. That looked good. Then of course there's Afternoons with Mr. Hogan: A Boy, A Golf Legend, and the Lessons of a Lifetime, by Jody Vasquez, whom Hogan befriended when Vasquez was a kid working at Shady Oaks Country Club. The part that reveals the rest of "The Secret" (the thing in his stance that Hogan didn't discuss in Five Lessons) was excerpted in a recent issue of a golf magazine, but presumably the best parts are the little glimpses into the man's character. An amazing guy. Saw him play once (stuff for another post).

I have some good regular-size books (hardbacks and paperbacks), but the ones I really treasure are these oversize (e.g. 9" x 12") books. A couple of them I got in London, but I've seen UK-published books in US bookstores, especially used bookstores.

Golf in America: The First One Hundred Years, by George Peper and the Editors of Golf Magazine (New York: Abradale Press, 1994). Lots of history, pictures, and art. A loving tribute to the game, as practiced on our side of the pond.

Golf: The Golden Years, by Sarah Baddiel (London: Studio Editions, 1989). Focuses on the end of the 19th century and first 40 years of the 20th (Vardon, Sarazen, Jones). History (some written by Bernard Darwin), photos, art. Kind of quirky in what it covers (e.g., photos of golf-themed toys), but that's part of the charm.

Classic Golf Links of England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, by Donald Steel (Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican, 1993). Steel is an accomplished golf writer and course architect (I hate him! Just kidding.). Photos, course maps, insightful writing.

Open Championship Golf Courses of Britain, by Keith Mackie (London: Aurum Press, 1997). Photo- and info-loaded chapters on all the major courses in the rota.

St. Andrews: How to Play the Old Course, by Desmond Muirhead and Tip Anderson (Newport Beach, California: Newport Press, 2000). Photos, instructive sketches of the holes, and back-and-forth dialogue between the authors (Desmond: course architect; Tip: caddied for 3 Open champs, Palmer twice and Lema once).

So many books, so little time...

I would recommend "GOOD BOUNCES & BAD LIES" by Ben Wright for his behind the scenes stories and "THE MONEY-WHIPPED STEER JOB THREE-JACK GIVE-UP ARTIST" by Dan Jenkins for off beat humor.
DECISIONS ON THE RULES OF GOLF" by the USGA. A tough read, but you'll learn more about golf here than any other book....."

Ben Hogan's Five Lessons

Harvey Pennick's Little Red Book

For amusement I prefer to read spy novels.

"Power Golf" by Ben Hogan is a great read. Probably have to go to the library to find a copy.

I have read most of the books already listed. Loved the Feinstein books, and the same with Reilly's stuff. I didn't care for Wrights writting style. Good stories, but it wasn't for me. The Bill Murray "A Cinderella Story" is another one I didn't care too much for. Not a total golf book, but a majority of it is about golf.

OK, a few more and then I'll stop.

Dead Solid Perfect, by Dan Jenkins (NY: Price Stern Sloan, 1986). Probably out of print but worth looking for in used bookstore. Novel about a pro tour golfer. The renowned golf writer had me ROFLMAO when I read it. Warning: Rated R!

Strokes of Genius, by Thomas Boswell (NY: Penguin, 1987). If out of print, may be findable in a library or used bookstore. Collection of articles that first appeared in The Washington Post or Golf Magazine. This guy can flat-out write. Has a great essay on the British Open, entitled "Shooting at Clouds" (i.e., a links landscape doesn't give you reliable targets; try aiming at that cloud over there).

Golf Anecdotes, by Robert T. Sommers (NY: Oxford, 1995). Still in print, I think. Lots of little stories (e.g., 1/2 page long; some as long as a few pages) about famous, infamous, and unknown golfers, arranged in rough chronological order (by era). If there's a room in your house where you sit for only a few minutes at a time, this would be perfect for it.

Golf and the Spirit: Lessons for the Journey, by M. Scott Peck (NY: Three Rivers Press, 1999). Normally, I would not read a book that sought to use golf as a metaphor for life (although I accept the analogy), that it can teach lessons that help you heal, grow, and find peace, etc. But the author is a highly regarded psychiatrist (wrote The Road Less Traveled and many other books) and he's a passionate, struggling golfer, like us! So I'm giving it a shot. It's not a life-changer. But it's nice.

The Greatest Game Ever Played, by Mark Frost (NY: Hyperion, 2002). The only hardback in this post (should be out in paperback soon?). I'm sure you've seen it on the bookshelves. It's the story of the 1913 US Open, which Francis Ouimet won in a playoff that included Harry Vardon. Mark Frost can flat-out write, too.

Harvey Penicks Little Red Book. I keep it in my golf bag.

If you want to read something funny, try this one . . . I found it very amusing. Here is a link:

http://www.golfparsuits.com/browsepr...aig-Brass.HTML

Any book by Harvey Penick is a book worth having in my opinion.