Monday, May 19, 2008

Librarian Tim recommends: A Downhill Lie by Carl Hiaasen (796.352 HIA, New books)

Novelist and newspaper columnist Carl Hiaasen stopped playing golf in his youth, only to return to it in middle age, thirty plus years later. This book chronicles his return as part diary and part memoir. Anyone familiar with his novels probably knows whats coming: caustic humor with the occasional screed against developers and politicians. Although this book is something of a one-trick pony, he keeps it light and occasionally touching, especially when talking about his father's affection for the game and his own son's growing love for it. His sarcastic e-mail exchanges with sportswriter Mike Lipica among others are fun, as are his encounters on the course with monkeys, alligators and other wildlife including fellow golfers. Oh yes, he also manages to drive a golf cart into a lake... While fans of his fiction will no doubt find a lot to enjoy here, this book will be best appreciated by those who play the game. They will enjoy the company of a fellow traveler.

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