- Paperback: 432 pages
- Publisher: Ballantine Books; Reprint edition (Feb 29 2000)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0345414829
- ISBN-13: 978-0345414823
- Product Dimensions: 13.8 x 2.3 x 21 cm
- Shipping Weight: 358 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#382,224 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #77 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Sports & Outdoors > Golf
- #79 in Books > Sports > Biographies > Golf
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
From his first steps onto the public stage, this true icon of sport exuded an aura more inviting than off-putting, and his substantial record--92 titles worldwide, four Masters championships, a U.S. Open crown, and back-to-back British Open victories--speaks for itself. So does his autobiography. It is friendly, chatty, honest, passionate, long on spirit, and deft with the anecdotes it shares. As a storyteller, Palmer is as down the middle with the failures and hard times as he is with the remarkable triumphs. He writes thrillingly about golf at its most competitive; probingly about his rivals, particularly Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus; revealingly about the extended slump that followed the '64 Masters, his last win in a major; fairly and nobly about his own legendary status; emotionally about his family and his complex relationship with his father; and quite movingly about both his and his wife's battles with cancer: "The very word...used in the same sentence as Winnie's name struck cold terror in my heart."
If A Golfing Life sometimes finds itself ankle-deep in the rough of its own sentimentality--"I'm damned proud of my efforts"--it also surprises with unflinching candor and self-awareness: "Walking down the fairway, shaken to the core," he concedes of his titanic collapse in the final round of the 1966 U.S. Open, "I doubt if I have ever felt as alone or as devastated on the golf course. I know what a train wreck the world is witnessing." In the end, the volume's real appeal isn't just the charismatic persona of Palmer himself--it's his ability to take aim at the birdies and bogeys of a full life on and off the course and assess them with clarity, charm, equanimity, and wit. --Jeff Silverman
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
While his peak playing time was some 30-plus years ago, Palmer, who has been battling prostate cancer since early 1997, remains a beloved figure and a symbol of the grace of golf. Palmer grew up poor in Youngstown, Pa., where his father eventually became course superintendent and head pro at the Latrobe Country Club. From the time he could hold an iron, Palmer spent as much time as possible playing the game with his "Pap," a hot-tempered disciplinarian, but he remained outside of club culture. On seeing Babe Didrikson Zaharias play, Palmer realized "how great it would be to make lots of peopleAcomplete strangers at thatAooh and aah over a golf shot." After attending Wake Forest on scholarship (where his roommate was killed in a car accident) and spending some time in the Coast Guard, Palmer went on the amateur circuit, barely stopping for a honeymoon with Winnie, his wife of nearly 50 years. In animated detail, his autobiography chronicles these events and the subsequent ups and downs of his career and personal life, including his first victories on the tour, his relationship with rival Jack Nicklaus, his friendship with Dwight Eisenhower, the decline of his game in the mid-1960s, his forays into the endorsement arena, his flying lessons and more. Palmer appears intelligent and artless when discussing the problem of "whites only" clubs as he recalls the 1965 PGA Championship he hosted, barred from California because of its exclusionary policies: "it wasn't in my nature to openly attack the organization." Most thrilling to fans will be his shot-by-shot perspective on legendary golf matches, such as the 1960 U.S. Open, where Palmer, Hogan and Nicklaus converged. While not quite a hole in one, this memoir shoots belowA that is, better thanApar. Major ad/promo; first serial to Golf magazine; Literary Guild selection.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
I sometimes think it's odd, and in no small part revealing, what you manage not to forget. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
I sometimes think it's odd, and in no small part revealing, what you manage not to forget. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Caretaker of the Game Recalls His Life,
By
This review is from: A Golfer's Life (Paperback)
This is fine book about a man with deep principles that have continued to deepen and nourish his life. What a life! From golfing legend to aviator to business entrepeneur to course designer to philantropist to family man to cancer recoverer et al.One of the true heroes of our time. Growing up with this guy, we baby boomers need one like this to exude what it truly is about -- not the titles or record or such, but how one played the game and treated others. Such neat memories from AP's life: earning nickels hitting over the ditch for ladies when young; his detest for media's microscopic view; his leaving the French Open after being mistreated by the Frogs (guess things never change); his opinion of the PGA's historical problems; his committment to his word; his enjoyment of piloting immediately after tournament, whether win or lose. Guy is first class and leaves us with much to emulate and pass on. His family roots run deep and it's evident. Maybe influence some parents to such as well. More enjoyable read than assumed. This guy has given so much to the development of the sport we love. His views should not be lightly glanced over.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Five for Arnie Only,
By A Customer
This review is from: A Golfer's Life (Hardcover)
I have to give this five stars because Arnold Palmer is my all time, all time sports idol, but I think the writing could have been better. That is evident in the people who thought Arnie was not candid about his feelings on Jack. In numerous other accounts, those feelings are explored in depth, so if there is a problem in that regard it is a failing in the author, not in Arnie. Also, I disagree that he doesn't see Jack as the best of all time, because he's said that numerous times. If there was rancor there on Arnie's part, it was probably because he felt that in Jack's younger days he didn't respect the fans enough, which is probably why I sense some rancor in some of the things Arnie now says about Tiger. In any event, this is a purely classy guy, who deserves all the accolades he's gotten, and this book gives a good glimpse into his soul.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A top-rate book for any sports follower,
By "banjbon" (Narrandera, New South Wales Australia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Golfer's Life (Hardcover)
Palmer deserves his reputation as one of the most respected figures in professional sports. This book, with its down-home style is far above the mind-numbing blow-by-blow accounts of careers hardly justifying the ink and paper which clog the sports book shelves. For this, his collaborator, golf writer, James Dodson, must be due for a large share of credit. Arnold Palmer looks back over a fantastic career with no lack of humility, but with personal glimpses in sufficient depth to maintain the interest at all times. But more than this, Palmer gives fascinating insights to his business life and associations with the famous in other fields, from presidents to show business personalities, to his fellow-golfers over six decades, always making it clear that his first love is his family. Palmer may be a little old-fashioned in his outlook for some of today's readers and indeed the schmaltz might be a little thick at times, but this still rates as a sports book of excellent quality.
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