3 comments about Don'T Turn Your Back In The Barn Country Vet.

1. This book is fascinating--stories from a rural vet in Canada, treating everything from cats to cows. The sad part is that Perrin isn't a very fluid writer, so it is sometimes a chore to get through.

   I had the sense that if Perrin had just dictated these stories and had worked with a good editor, it would have been a much better book.




2. These books take you through hilarious and moving stories, real life stories of new veterinary in a little town. It inspires you to reach for your goals and never take no for an answer, great for inspiring vets or any animal lover!



3. I can definately recommend this book, maybe not worth the cover price, but good if 2nd hand or from the library. Dr. Perrin's stories are funny, if you like Herriot, you will like this. However, I only gave it 4 stars because Perrin, while adequate, is not the most talented writer, and I found that the print in the book is very large and misrepresents how much text there actually is. I read through the book very quickly, I was hoping he would have packed more into the book. But still, it's a good read and has some good stories in it.

No comments about SuperGolf: Set-up, Swing and Shotmaking Secrets from the Best of the World Golf Hall of Fam.

1 comments about Byron Nelson: The Most Remarkable Year in the History of Golf.

1. The book is an interesting chronicle of Byron's 1945 season, however the writing is rather dry. I think it could have been much more interesting if the author had more of a flair. I have read a lot of golf books, and this just left me slightly underwhelmed.

1 comments about Golden Twilight.

1. This book is the story of the Jack Nicklaus's farewell tour of the 4 majors. After hip replacement surgery, Nicklaus decided that 2000 would be the last year he would attempt to play in all 4 of professional golf's major championships. In a way, the timing worked out great. He was not normally exempt for the U.S. Open, and he assumed that 2000 would be the last year he would be granted a special exemption to play. I guess I am of the age that I really don't quite remember him when he was at his dominant peak of golf in the 70's. I just remember his great wins at the U.S. Open and at the Masters when most people had written him off as being too old. So this book is confirmation of his role as probably the greatest golfer of the 20th century, but is is sort of sad at the same time that it isn't until the age of 60 (!) that Nicklaus has to admit to giving into father time. He admits that he can't apply his ferocious will to get the ball in the hole when he wants to anymore. If you are a fan of Jack or of golf in general, this book is highly recommended

5 comments about Good Bounces and Bad Lies.

1. Wright is as witty and colorful as his broadcasts were. Gives an image of broadcasting which most of us aren't aware of. We sense the morals and ethics of these public individuals are different. Appreciated even more his love for the game and extreme pain the LPGA comments have brought upon him. Image is everything!



2. CBS, BRING THIS GUY BACK! If you want a good read that will absolutely make you CRY with laughter. This is the book for you...And you don't have to be a Golf fan to enjoy it. I always figured that stranged things happened behind the camera, but his stories will absolutely crack you up. It is definitely a MUST buy.



3. Ben Wright does a superb job in taking mere golfing mortals behind the scenes of some famous, and some not so famous, tournaments to give an insight into LIFE in the golfing world. It is a page turner that had me howling with laughter as he strips bare the mystique behind both golf broadcasting and some of the peripheral characters that add to the colour of the sport. Of course in the true style that has endeared him to so many he also takes a few swipes at some brighter lights in the business of golf. Wright has an obvious deep love for the game but he does not let sentimentality get in the way of a good story. I am sure that he must have a stock of untold tales waiting to be let out of the closet and I look forward to the next installment from this very funny, very English and very lovable raconteur.



4. Wright's book basically, after he gets through some obligatory stories about golf in England when he was young, is a tell all about most of the peole he has worked with at CBS Sports. If it is not a tell all, it will do 'til one comes around. Most of the problem is with alcohol...we hear of interventions, wild partys, stupid episodes of behavior...yet through it all...even after an intervention which sent him to Betty Ford...one of the staff told him before he left that he was not an alcoholic but an abuser of alcohol. What that distinction is remains lost to me but was understood by Ben. No matter. You wonder how CBS managed to produce a cohesive telecast of the Masters or any other tournament they were assigned to based on Ben's recollections. He also ran into some world travelers that he thought behaved badly. It is a "tell all" from one who is still in the dog house for telling all about his opinion of women's golf and the difference betwen the men's game and theirs. No matter that he had that just right,,,he was PC'd out and the world of golf broadcasting is the worse for it. I miss him behind the microphone, but the book goes a bit long.



5. Wright's tales are stupendous, but to the point of being absurd. This is one of the few books in years that I finally just put down. He defects from the army to watch Hogan, his house is reduced to rubble but he and his sister miraculously survive; his overzealous buddy grabs a waiter and pulls him outside to beat him senseless...sheesh. I liked Wright as a commentator but leave this book on the shelf.

1 comments about Life and Times of Bobby Jones.

1. Any one from recent generations wanting to learn about Bobby Jones needs to get this book. You will learn of Jones the golfer, family man, gentleman, academic, and lawyer. Jones was a winner in golf and life but never waivered from his philosophy of "playing it as it lies". A collection of stories and photos unmatched in other Jones biographies. The manner in which Jones dealt with his success, and then his disabling illness is a lesson for all.

3 comments about Nicklaus.

1. Mark Shaw has done a superb job in describing the greatest golfer who ever lived. Filled with little known information and exciting anecdotes, the book chronicles the life and times of Nicklaus as never before.



2. For me, the best thing about this gawd-awful little book is the fact that I borrowed it from the library. Had I wasted so much as a ball marker I would have felt ripped off.

   Was this a quick hack job? Or what? The author, Mark Shaw, is apparently a successful writer. I wondered, reading "Nicklaus", if this book was a rush job, the Domino's of biography. If you don't know anything about Nicklaus and you don't know anything about golf (not the sort of reader Shaw intended for the book I presume) you still need only stay awake, if you can, to notice the sloppiness.

   One example out of many, from p. 243: "By the time he reached the seventh hole, Nicklaus had collected four more birdies, coming at four, five, six and seven." Trust me. When Nicklaus "reached" the seventh hole he had not yet birdied it.

   As I say, this is only one example of many. Even more annoying is Shaw's inability to note contradictions within the text. In two consecutive

   paragraphs, p. 175, Shaw quotes Nicklaus on the subject of pressure. In the first paragraph Nicklaus says: "There are not degrees of nervousness. I'm as nervous over a $5 bet as over a tournament prize." In the very next paragraph Nicklaus says: "I don't get nervous unless I'm in a major and in a position to win."

   I suspect the first quote was from early in Nicklaus' career and the second quote from much later in his career. But who knows? There are no footnotes so how can you tell? The various contradictions in this book, back to back or separated by many pages (e.g. Nicklaus takes golf advice from no one/Nicklaus was always good at taking advice or Nicklaus hates the limelight/Nicklaus loves the limelight) might have been interesting to explore. But Shaw doesn't seem to even notice. It's like he's got a pile of quotes and shoves them all into the pot indiscriminately.

   On top of all this Shaw is, simply, a terrible writer. A minor irritant is that he seems not to be a 'word person', committing such sins as confusing 'regiment' with 'regimen.' The big problem is that he strains too hard to write like a good writer. Instead of making it look easy Mark Shaw makes it look hard.

   A sand wedge becomes "the club Gene Sarazen invented." Wait - let me pick a page at random for another example. Here we are, p. 233: "Somehow, through pure resolve and fighting spirit, Nicklaus dislodged his ball from its nasty spot and sped it towards the green." Did his publisher lay off all its editors?

   On a more general level, if this book has anything new of any significance I couldn't find it. And I couldn't find the point of the odd way he organized the book, as Shaw mysteriously returns to bits and pieces of Nicklaus' outstanding 1972 season. Plain old chronology still hits the spot.

   Unless and until a professional biographer, with plenty of time to read what he has written comes along, if you want to know about Nicklaus you should read his own books, starting with the 1968 "Golf - The Greatest Game of All." When Nicklaus refused to cooperate with this project was he just lucky?




3. Jack Nicklaus is the greatest golfer who ever lived and this book tells everything about him. I especially like the comparisons with the rest of the great golfers and the author's insight into Jack the family man.

No comments about Bernhard Langer: My Autobiography.

No comments about Bobby Jones: Extra.

No comments about Women in Golf: The Players, the History, and the Future of the Sport.