Golf Dreams: Writings on Golf Paperback - 1997

From the jacket flap

"BUBBLY AND QUIZZICAL AND LUMINOUS."
--Los Angeles Times
"JOYFUL . . . THE JACK NICKLAUS OF GOLF WRITING . . . The 30 entries in this collection, drawn mainly from magazine pieces, constitute a championship round. . . . This unbridled appreciation of golf's mystical opportunities for grace and redemption will enthrall even those who have never followed an 80-yard worm-burner with an elegant chip to the pin."
--People
"VINTAGE UPDIKE AND A RARE TREAT FOR GOLFERS."
--San Francisco Chronicle
"A BOOK WRITTEN UNDER A CLEAR BLUE SKY WITH AN UTTERLY PURE SWING . . . [ending] with a handful of essays on the metaphysics of golf and great golf gurus, both writers and caddies. Here, Updike waltzes about the heavens of Nabokov, in pure esthetic bliss. And here his transcendental agonies and anxieties fuse into split-second moments of impact that lift us from sand pit to rhapsody."
--The Philadelphia Inquirer

Media reviews

“Limber and sprightly, unique, alive . . . Updike understands golf, keenly, and expresses his understanding with charm and beauty, in words as sturdy as Lee Trevino’s stance.”—Sports Illustrated
 
“A book written under a clear blue sky with an utterly pure swing . . . Here, Updike waltzes about the heavens of Nabokov, in pure esthetic bliss. And here his transcendental agonies and anxieties fuse into split-second moments of impact that lift us from sand pit to rhapsody.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer
 
“[Golf Dreams clears] the hazards with ease and grace. [Updike] is eloquent on the pleasures and frustrations of the game [and] even better at dramatizing its mysterious pull.”—The New York Times

Citations

• Publishers Weekly, 07/28/1997, Page 0