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In Part Two, Jones shares just about everything he has learned (to that point) about the mental as well as physical skills needed to play golf well. What struck me, throughout the book, is Jones's candor. For example, "There are times when I feel I know less about what I am doing than anybody else in the world." He discusses putting ("a game within a game"), the pitch shot ("a mystery"), iron play ("I like it"), "the heavy artillery" (woods), miscellaneous shots ("and trouble"), and in the final chapter "Tournament Golf." The reader is provided with a generous selection of photographs, many of which I (at least) had not seen previously. "Early in this little book I made the statement that there were two kinds of golf -- golf, and tournament golf; and that they were not at all the same." When concluding this book, Jones acknowledges that he's been "awfully lucky. Maybe I'll win another championship, some day. I love championship competition, after all -- win or lose." What will it feel like when he days of tournament competition have ended? "It's going to be queer." Then he confides, as his "little book" ends: "But there's always one thing to look forward to -- the round with Dad and [other kindred spirits]; the Sunday morning round at old East Lake, with nothing to worry about, when championships are done." Three years after sharing these thoughts and feelings, Jones won the Grand Slam and then retired from tournament competition. Some people have expressed their preferences for those with whom they would like to share a "fantasy dinner." Were it possible, I would like to share a "fantasy round of golf" with Bob Jones, Walter Hagen, and Harvey Penick. Given the impossibility of that, I must seek their companionship in books such as this.
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As a builder, this book is a must for my how-to shelf.
John D.
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On arrival at the ranch, north of San Antonio in Texas,the Widow, Clara, gives him no time to explain his presence, but launches into a job offer of taking her and the women who have found refuge with her on a cattle drive to Abilene. It is the only way she can save the ranch from the rapacious demands of neighbor Medder.
An encounter with Medder fires up Jeff's quixotic nature and he agrees to boss the cattle drive. He, thirteen women and one lad set off to herd about 2,500 steers across Texas and on to Kansas on the Chisholm Trail. All of the women, with the exception of one are themselves widows and have dramas and traumas in their pasts. Their stories are gently teased out in the narrative, whilst they strive to equip themselves not only to become effective cowboys, but also to defend against Indians, marauding thieves, rapists and the wildlife. The indigenous species being rattlesnakes, scorpions, lethal water snakes and extremes of weather. The perils of the journey draw the women closer together and Jeff realises he will never see a woman again as being 'weak'. He also falls deeply in love.
Jones has a deft way of creating his characters with economy and a gift for description of scenery. There are no extraneous words, each is chosen with care and polished into place leading the reader into humour, pathos and sympathy with the ambitions of the cattle drive. It is without doubt, one of the best-structured novels I have read in some time. In addition, the research is impeccable.
A few years ago this reviewer was in Newton, on the Chisholm Trail. With a friend I stood in the middle of a railway crossing and she said, "Now, if you start walking that way, the nearest place to get some of your English tea is a thousand miles away." I looked at the flat plains stretching to infinity and wondered. Later, we were at a strip mall when dusk fell and the car park was full. No one was shopping, we were all looking at the sky, the long sky, and one of the most awe inspiring and beautiful sunsets I have ever seen. It filled the whole of the horizon and more, the vastness, the sense of space was overwhelming. What for me was so striking, was most must have been accustomed to this splendour, yet it still stopped them in their tracks. That is the Chisholm Trail.
The cattle drive was over a thousand miles, moving from one state to others. Here in UK if we travel the same distance, we could be in Gilbralter or Central Russia. True in the nineteenth century as today, with humanity, towns and cities in between. Between South Texas and Abilene, with the then tiny Fort Worth and minute settlements in between, there were barely a few hundred people. Self-reliance and neighbourliness was essential for mutual survival.
This Jones captures along with the basic decency of ordinary folk in contrast to the casual villainy and depravity flourishing where there is no law, in an endless wilderness.
Thoroughly recommended, with a guarantee you will not be disappointed. I hope we'll be seeing more of Jefferson Pickett, Lolita, Hank Pickett, Clara and Auntie. DIONE DOVER, BOOK REVIEWER...
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His military service, from Forts Henry and Donelson, through Vicksburg and Atlanta and on to the Carolinas, demonstrated not only his own abilities and personal courage, but also was emblematic of the skilll and sacrifice of his "Egyptians" of southern Illinois generally. His political thought, too, illustrative of the times, reflected the shift in Illinois opinion from initial confusion and wavering, to near-solid support for Lincoln and his war policies.
In conjunction with this very readable biography, the reader might be also be interested in "Reminiscences of a Soldier's Wife", Mrs. Logan's memoirs, which cannot be regarded as entirely reliable but which are a valuable adjunct to Jones' biography and give a colorful insight into the times.
(The "score" rating is an ineradicable feature of the page. This reviewer does not 'score" books.)
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that displays loyalty and love between a grandfather and a five-year-old granddaughter in a tense drama that reveals the best of us and the worst of us! (From a reader in LA,CA)
Why return to an outdated time of wood shafts and limitef flight balls? One finds it in this read, the character and strength of this great amateur.
What impressed this reviewer was Jones' humbleness, and love for the game. He wasn't really into all the winning, which in fact caused him anxiety. Moreover he was into the challenge against Ole Man Par and himself. He relished the comradre with his fellow competitors and is most quick to give them praise rather than discuss what he didn't have in his game that round.
Neat to realize that his prized trophy was the first, which he thought was improperly awarded to him, while Alexa Sterling should have won it, no question. This is what golf is about, not slugging it 300+ yds. to screaming fans playing for millions.
Takes us back to what the game is and should remain. It's become far too commercialized.
Will take a honored position in my growing golf book collection to be fondly recalled and reread.