Spikes

by Michael Griffith

At twenty-six, Brian Schwan is washed up. Four years hacking away on third-rate golf courses across the South have produced a grand total of $19,000 in earnings, zero wins, and a string of spectacular tournament flameouts. His wife wants him to come home and start a family; he's just shot the worst opening round of his life; and even his father, who pushed Brian in to the game, seems to have given up. So what do you do when the dream slips away? Astonishingly accomplished and utterly captivating, Spikes is a sharply observed novel about the obscurity of our motivations, our capacity for self-delusion, and the surprising, unexpected possibilities for grace.

Genres: Sports

Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Red Fox]

I think someone gave me this book, and I read it as was in the middle of a golf craze, and found it to be pretty decent with some very funny parts and some great musings on the glories and tragedies of golf.

The narrator summarizes his life - Oliver Wendell Holmes's first principle of jurisprudence was this: "My right to swing my fist ends at the other man's face." That seems easy enough, but how is it that everywhere you flail, someone's contrived to set a jaw there."

[Jerry]

Great, fun read about the loser in all of us. The language is wonderful. A way with words, he has. I don't even play golf, but I was itching to after reading this book.