Unplayable Lies

April 1, 2015

Jenkins (Semi-Tough; Dead Solid Perfect) is both self-serving and tongue in cheek, offering a compendium of insights, about half of which have been previously published. Even if these stories were related before, the retellings are too good to ignore. Few writers in the world of golf are capable of humor, nor have they been around long enough to tell very compelling stories. Jenkins succeeds on both accounts. His recharacterization of junior golf from a game of effort to one of entitlement is especially noteworthy. Likewise, his anecdotes about gambler and golfer Titanic Thompson celebrate a bygone era. A virtue of this book is that it can be read piecemeal as a solid story to fill a loose moment. Another bonus is that it provides trivia that could become the grist of barroom bets. For example, who is the only person to have played in a World Series and the Masters? Sam Byrd. VERDICT An exciting read, all the more so for the forward by the author's daughter, who begins, "My father is, sadly, a fraud."

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.