The Greatest Game Ever Played: Harry Vardon, Francis Ouimet, and the Birth of Modern Golf, by Mark Frost
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The Greatest Game Ever Played: Harry Vardon, Francis Ouimet, and the Birth of Modern Golf, by Mark Frost
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[Read by Robertson Dean]A must-listen for millions of sports and history fans -- and all who have ever dared to reach for their dreams. Francis Ouimet and Harry Vardon came from different worlds and different generations, but their passion for golf set them on parallel paths that would collide in the greatest match their sport had ever known. A young Massachusetts native, Francis was only three years removed from his youthful career as a lowly caddie. Harry was twice his age, the greatest British champion in history, and innovator of the modern grip and swing. Through exacting hard work, perseverance, and determination, Harry Vardon had escaped a hopeless life of poverty; the unknown Ouimet dared to dream of following in his hero's footsteps. When the two men finally came together in their legendary battle at the 1913 US Open, its heart-stopping climax gave rise to the sport of golf as we know it today.Weaving the stories of Ouimet and Vardon as his narrative, Mark Frost creates a uniquely involving, intimate epic that is equal parts sports biography, sweeping social history, and emotional human drama. The Greatest Game Ever Played is a must-listen for millions of sports and history fans - and all who have ever dared to reach for their dreams.
The Greatest Game Ever Played: Harry Vardon, Francis Ouimet, and the Birth of Modern Golf, by Mark Frost- Amazon Sales Rank: #4905796 in Books
- Published on: 2015-10-13
- Formats: Audiobook, MP3 Audio
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 2
- Dimensions: 7.50" h x 5.25" w x .75" l,
- Running time: 61620 seconds
- Binding: MP3 CD
From Publishers Weekly This first nonfiction effort by Frost, who is a novelist (The List of Seven), television producer (Twin Peaks) and scriptwriter (Hill Street Blues), deftly tells the story behind the legendary 1913 U.S. Open, in which Francis Ouimet, a 20-year-old golf amateur from Massachusetts, shocked the genteel golf world by defeating British champion Harry Vardon, the most famous pro golfer of his time and the inventor of what today is still considered the modern grip and swing. Frost knows he has a good story and manages to touch on all the right elements of the plot: Ouimet and Vardon not only represent two different social worlds and two different generations, but also share a number of key personal facts and traits. Ouimet was "the boy-next-door amateur, young and modest and free from affectation," while Vardon was the consummate professional whose record of six British Open victories has never been matched. Yet Frost superbly shows how both shared a steely drive to succeed that helped Vardon overcome a long bout with tuberculosis and Ouimet to overcome a working-class background in which golf was seen (especially by his father) as a wealthy man's game, the perfect example of the evils of capitalism. Frost beautifully weaves history into his narrative, clearly showing the long-term impact this duel had on the game and how it helped propel the U.S. Open into the arena of world-class golf. Frost's final chapters on the last two rounds of the 1913 Open have all the page-turning excitement of a blockbuster novel.Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist *Starred Review* The story of Francis Ouimet, the first amateur to win the U.S. Open golf tournament, is just too good to be true: it's Rocky without the sequels, it's Jack without his beanstalk, it's Tiger without Nike. But it's true, and as told by veteran thriller writer Frost, it's the most compelling sports book since Laura Hillenbrand's best-selling Seabiscuit. Born in 1893, Ouimet grew up poor, directly across the street from The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, where Boston's blue bloods tried their hands at the new sport of golf. The game caught young Francis in its grip, and despite his father's disapproval, he became a caddie at the club and taught himself to play. Frost jumps between Ouimet's story and the surprisingly similar saga of British champion Harry Vardon, who was also born poor and contended with a disapproving father. Frost builds his characters--not just Ouimet and Vardon but also Francis' caddy, 10-year-old Eddie Lowery--with the skill of a novelist (occasionally but believably using invented dialogue). The climax of the narrative--the recounting of the 1913 U.S. Open at Brookline, where the unheralded, 20-year-old Ouimet beat both his idol Vardon and the other reigning British professional, Ted Ray--is genuinely exciting, a marvelous re-creation of a signature moment in golf history. Underdog stories have become among the sappiest cliches in pop-culture's arsenal, but this one reminds us why they worked in the first place. Bill OttCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review ''A fascinating story of the early days of golf in this country and how it came to be one of the major sports at the turn of the century.'' --Los Angeles Times ''Masterful storytelling…A must-read for the fanatical golfers among us, and a worthwhile trip through a largely forgotten era for the rest.'' --Boston Globe ''The most compelling sports book since Laura Hillenbrand's bestselling Seabiscuit…Genuinely exciting, a marvelous re-creation of a signature moment in golf history.'' --Booklist (starred review) ''An award-winning TV writer turned novelist Frost proves just as skilled at nonfiction in his affectionate recreation of the dramatic 1913 US Open Golf Championship…Throughout, Frost demonstrates a detailed knowledge of the different rules, equipment, and terminology used in 1913…Captivating entertainment.'' --Kirkus Reviews
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50 of 54 people found the following review helpful. Outstanding By Orrin C. Judd After sober reflection, I state my conviction that, if I lived the length of a dozen lives, I should never again be the spectator of such an amazing, thrilling and magnificent finish to an Open championship. -Bernard Darwin (1876-1961), The Times of London Mark Frost has already proven himself a terrific writer, with such television series as the great Hill Street Blues and the innovative Twin Peaks to his credit, and a few successful novels, including the excellent Sherlock Holmes homage, The List of Seven>, and a sequel, The Six Messiahs. But I don't know that anything can have prepared even his fans for this book, which, though one must have some reservations about its form, is quite simply one of the best golf books ever written. To begin with, Mr. Frost has chosen his topic wisely. Harry Vardon (1870-1937) and Francis Ouimet (1893-1967)--both of whom came from working class families, had difficult relationships with their fathers, and learned to golf as boys at the local courses where they caddied, Ouimet in Massachusetts, Vardon some twenty-plus years earlier on the Isle of Jersey--are thoroughly compelling heroes. In 1913 their similar stories converged at The Country Club, in Brookline, MA--the very club at which Francis had caddied--in the United States Open. Harry Vardon was at that time probably the best golfer in the world and in previous visits to America had been instrumental in marketing the game here. But it was to be the young amateur Francis Ouimet's playoff victory over the professional Vardon and countryman Ted Ray that, or so Mr. Frost argues, gave birth to the modern golf era in America. The book starts with extended biographical sketches of the two men and the events that brought them to the tee for their face-off. Numerous other characters are on hand to lend color--two of whom stand out, and will be the star-making roles in the inevitable movie: the dashing young American professional Walter Hagen (golf's eventual answer to Babe Ruth) and Eddie Lowery, Ouimet's preternaturally self-assured ten year old caddie. Digressions inform us about changes in rules and equipment, the professionalization of the sport, and its popularization. But it is the tournament itself that forms the bulk of the book, particularly the final day, the Monday playoff, when the little known twenty year old, playing before large and enthusiastic hometown galleries, on a course across the street from his own house, had to fend off two of the world's best. Mr. Frost's prose gets a tad purplish at times, but personally I thought that gave it the feel, of old time sportswriting. Besides, the story is so improbable that the reality seems like a clich?, so why not write it like a sports movie? More troubling is that Mr. Frost has chosen to provide dialogue and to ascribe thoughts and feelings to the various players even though he has had to create some of it himself, without ever differentiating which is which. Although it serves his purposes as a storyteller well, fleshing out the characters and letting us see them interact "naturally" with one another, it actually becomes distracting because you can't help but wondering which thoughts and words come from people's memoirs and contemporaneous accounts of the event (which are apparently sufficiently extensive so that much of what's here is genuine) and which are purely made up. It also--though we've seen experiments of this kind in recent years, like Edmund Morris's Dutch--seems more than a little unfair to attribute imagined words and emotions to real people who don't have an opportunity to dispute or confirm them. It would, I think, have been preferable to simply call the book a novelization, in the tradition of Michael Sharaa's Pulitzer Prize-winning account of Gettysburg, The Killer Angels. At the very least, there should be footnotes to indicate where truth ends and fiction begins. From an author or publisher's point of view there may be reasons not to do these things--just in terms of the sales and marketing of novels vs. nonfiction and reader dislike of footnotes--but from a standpoint of intellectual rigor it's somewhat disconcerting. Once you get past these considerations--and take my word for it, the writing and the story are so exciting that you will get past any questions--you're in for an unbelievably thrilling tale. It's especially recommended for golf fans, who will find the tangential stuff about the clubs and balls they used just as interesting as the championship, but it should really appeal to everyone, in much the same way that Seabiscuit reached past horse race fans to a wide audience. It's a marvelous read and seems certain to make for a great movie. Grade: (A+)
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful. Required reading for anybody who knows a golfer! By Seve Barbarosa Mark Frost’s first novel, The List Of Seven, was so meticulously researched, had you not known it was fiction you would believe it to be fact. His latest work, The Greatest Game Ever Played, is so well structured and vivid in its description of characters and events, had you not known it was fact, you would embrace it as a novel. It is a wonderful, captivating, heartwarming yarn. And every detail is true.It took me nearly two weeks to read The Greatest Game Ever Played - not because I’m a slow reader nor because the book is that long - but, because I savored each chapter, internalized its characters, and then proceeded to go out and shoot a terrific game of golf. Frost’s historical novel actually taught me to play better by inviting me inside the hearts and minds of golfing greats Harry Vardon and Francis Ouimet. I simply didn’t want the experience to end.Frost’s gift for storytelling is at its best as he tackles a subject he clearly loves. His fascination and enthusiasm are contagious. The Greatest Game Ever Played is a book you will read more than once and want to share with your friends: golfers, golf-widows, and all those who simply think golfers are crazy.
18 of 20 people found the following review helpful. One of Greatest Books on Greatest Game By rodboomboom I'm still entranced by this work. It ties the game many of us are passionate about with two key individuals: Harry Vardon and Francis Ouimet.From their confrontation at The Country Club emanated modern golf era in America and Bobbby, Jack, Arnie, Tiger et al.That's just one of many points that struck this reader, the amazing influence Vardon and Ouimet had. The grip, the ball, the fame, the book. Francis taken in by all this. Harry finally taken in by this young golfer from across the street.The first half is just superb history telling by a master writer who has done the research so well. Amazing chapter on what was going on historically in 1913. Context makes this so riverting reading!The second half is the Open that started the U.S. modern era.Parallels abound between Harry and Francis and their love for the game, start and family interest.From a growing sizeable personal golf library, this will be a most treasured volume, to be reread fondly. Those who follow golf will want to know this heritage which runs from Morris to Vardon to Ouimet to Sarazen to Jones to Venturi to you and me. What a book! What a game!
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