The Greatest Game Ever Played: A True Story by Mark Frost
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Book Reviews of The Greatest Game Ever Played: A True Story
Book Review: The Greatest Game Ever Played: A True Story
Summary: 5 Stars
Documents the real birth of the game in the USA, and much more. A 'must read' for every passionate golf fan.Book Review: Amazing
Summary: 5 Stars
Short review. This is one of the best books I've ever had the pleasure to read. A complete masterpiece.Book Review: Good 1st Effort -- Style Later Perfected in "The Match"
Summary: 4 Stars
This I believe was Frost's 1st golf history book and previously all his other work had been fiction. Which explains the fictional feel of this book. Frost cites conversation and internal thoughts from the characters to an exent that he can't possibly know if that's what happened. In addition to compromising accuracy, it also makes for a book that's about 2x as long as it needs to be. I found myself often scanning large sections rather than reading every word.
Even with that flaw he still produced a must-read golf history book, that many non-golfers will also enjoy. He excels at putting things in historical and social context, and building fiction-like edge of your seat tension. He's also a master at researching the lives of the main characters, from their beginnings to their endings in the must-read "Afterward" section.
In this case the main characters are British legendary professional golfers Harry Vardon and Ted Ray, US amateur golfer Francis Quimet and his young caddie Eddie Lowery. Although Mr. Quimet's story is reasonably well known in golf circles, Eddie's isn't. And in some ways Eddie is actually the most interesting character, if not the most important. The story goes that young Eddie escaped the grade school truant officer every day so he could caddie for Quimet. And it was Eddie's inspiration, tenacity and timely advice that pushed the young unaccomplished amateur Quimet to an historic conquest over then golfing titans Vardon and Ray.
In Frost's 3rd golf book "The Match" released last year, Eddie would again enter the picture. Now a middle aged successful businessman, he sets up a historic match between the 2 best amateurs of the day (Ken Venturi and Harvey Ward) and the 2 best Pros (Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson). At stake is a presumed $10,000 personal bet (if not more) but even more importantly a seminal event in the future direction of American golf: would the essence of the game remain in the hands of high-minded amateurs who played for pride and honor, or pros who at the time carried the stigma that playing for money compromised their golfing integrity?
In this 2nd effort, Frost clearly refines his style by eliminating much of the characters' internal and external "filler" dialogue, and the result is a book with better momentum and few if any question marks on accuracy. Not coincidentally, "The Match" is about 1/2 the page count of "Greastest Game."
In any case, both of these books are clearly "can't miss" and go together like Godfather's I & II.
Book Review: Entertaining mix of fiction and nonfiction
Summary: 4 Stars
This book was truly enjoyable and very hard to put down. It is a page turner that yields valuable insight into the birth of golf in Scotland, England, and America. This book contains many valuable facts that may be unknown to the casual sports fan like myself. I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for an entertaining read on the beginnings of golf and the inspirational story of underdog Francis Ouimet.
However, this book contains a lot of fiction. The "states of mind" of Vardon, Ouimet, Ray, Lord Northcliffe, etc. are pure speculation. Frost has definitely opted for an overdramatization of the story to give it wide appeal (and movie appeal) so it is difficult at times to distinguish facts from fiction. Purists and true golf buffs might be annoyed by the blatant largesse of Frost's fiction.
Nevertheless, the book is an easy and enjoyable read.
Book Review: Not Up To Par
Summary: 2 Stars
I guess I'm swimming against the tide on this one, but I found this book to be a badly written, superficially researched effort. It's a shame that an amazing story has been told so badly. It's a credit to the material the author has to work with that the book garnered so many 5-star reviews even from people who noted the many weaknesses of the storytelling itself.
The book covers the early days of competitive golf in England late in the 19th century and in the U.S. early in the 20th century. For anyone who's watched Tiger Woods on TV, calmly making his way around a technicolor, manicured course (with everyone reverently watching), the tales of life on the links 100-plus years ago is fascinating. It was a gentleman's game played in lovely settings, but the equipment and the upkeep of courses barely resemble today's standards. Even the rules have been changed to smoothe the game's edges.
Into this chaos entered a 20-year-old American who had only once played in a tournament outside of his home state, Francis Oimet. First, Oimet tied the two greatest golfers in the world after four rounds, and then he beat them in a playoff on the next day. He remained an amateur the rest of his life, eventually becoming a stock broker. Oh, and by the way, Oimet became fascinated with golf because he grew up literally across the street from where the U.S. Open tournament was held: The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., which waw the club that literally gave us the term "country club."
The champions that Oimet beat were British citizens: Harry Vardon and Ted Ray. Vardon was the greatest champion of the game's first 50 years, and his fascinating and tragic story has been told in several books. Vardon basically introduced competitive golf to the U.S. public by barnstorming for six months in 1903 and beating all comers. Ray, the other Brit, was a friendly-but-intense contender for the heir to Vardon's crown. Together, Vardon and Ray had barnstormed across the country in 1913 and beaten every single one of the best players in the U.S. head-to-head.
Oimet, age 20 at the time, was a complete unknown, and not even considered one of the better amateurs in the country (yet). His caddy was a 12-year-old who had trouble carrying his clubs without having them scrape along the ground. But Oimet overcame nerves, bad luck, an angry father, and a dozen other hardships to win a stunning victory that propeled golf into the pantheon of spectator sports. He literally walked across the street to get to the tournament each day.
It's a mind-blowing story, and full of fascinating asides, such as the physical and psychological hardships endured by both Oimet and Vardon, and the inequal treatment of pro and amateur stars, even when they were playing in the same tournament. So, there's a lot that's memorable about the book.
However, the book is so flawed that I have to recommend that people find other books about the early days of golf and its stars, and read them instead. A few observations might suffice. 1. The book recreates conversations and thoughts that couldn't possibly be known to the author. There are literally hundreds of direct-quote conversations that are impossible to verify, and the only apology for the fiction is an oblique reference at the end of the book. 2. Those alleged conversations are generally stupid and cliched -- which isn't a surprise since the author cut his teeth by writing for television. 3. There's no bibliography. With a bibliography at least, we could read some of the original books that undoubtedly had the snap of originality, even if they were unreliable, too. 4. Most annoying of all, the author apparently has never found a stupid metaphor that he can resist, and he usually stacks them together, two-per-paragraph. They contrast badly with the more interesting analysis or more affecting writing about players' personalities and hardships. Just cutting out those "there was enough electricity in the crowd to light up all of Boston" would improve the book immensely.
In summation, if you are dying to find out the story of Francis Oimet, the first amateur to win the U.S. Open, read this book. If you want a well-done book about the early days of golf, find something else.