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If you play golf, it's a must read. If you don't, you will still enjoy it very much.
Troon takes a shot at how we golfer's feel so insecure that we spend crazy amount of money for an edge that isn't there. If you have a Callaway or any other expensive club in your bag, it will cut you up like a surgeon's scalpel and expose how vain you really are.
Worthy every penny! Pick it up!
The truth hurts. Yesterday I was told that a big name sports reporter bought a new set of clubs after every bad round of golf. I am going to send him this book. I will buy the bargain balls from now on.
Another enjoyable Eddie Camminetti read, but not as much fun as "The Green" or "The Foursome." As always, Troon McAllister has an interesting take on the game, and in this case, equipment manufacturers.
This book is laugh out loud funny, and an irreverent look at the big time golf equipment makers. While I still think The Green is the better book because it had more depth, this is great and a must read for any golfer. And, by the way, just who is the Medalist Corporation????
I was wondering what to expect when I ordered this book as I had loved the first book in the Eddie Caminetti series, The Green and been very disappointed by the sequel, The Foursome. Well, the third time was a charm and Scratch comes through on all counts. It is funny, incisive, educational and thoroughly entertaining. The chapters that deal with the trial over the suit by the Medalist Golf Ball Company against Caminetti's golf ball company are as funny as anything I have encountered along those lines since My Cousin Vinny. Their is a lot of common sense wisdom imparted in the book about the gullibility of golfers
who just have to have the latest golf ball or the most advanced club in order to play up to their maximum ability. All I can say about that is read and learn. To tell the whole story line would be to give too much away. Just trust me. It is a hoot!
This novel, detailing the highly unorthodox strategy of recruiting a golf hustler to participate in the Ryder Cup, was at times brilliant, every bit the equal of some of Dan Jenkins' best work. At times, however, there were glaring mistakes in the description of some of the Ryder Cup matches and the shot selection of many of the players.
For example, in one set of matches, it was stated that one group was playing number twelve, while the two previous matches had ended in ties. Not likely the third group would have fallen six holes behind the group in front of it. The author also messed up the shot sequence in one of the alternating shot matches. He has virtually every player hitting shots that land in front of the green and run up, a strategy not called for at PGA West and rarely seen anywhere other than British Links courses.
These instances, while relatively minor, were frequent enough to detract from the flow of the novel and prevented me from awarding a fifth star. The author is supposedly a golfer, but you'd have to wonder, given many of the mistakes that should have been caught by the most casual golf fan. A well written, highly amusing novel, that could have been much better with just a little editing by a knowledgable golfer.
Every year my daughters buy me a book that I either quietly return, surreptitiously dispose of or make a meager effort to read. Somehow they never seem to get it right. But I counted them out too soon. This year they bought me "The Green." It sat around for weeks undisturbed on my desk, until one day I noticed it on the edge of my desk and picked it up while talking on the phone. I paged through it casually expecting the usual sub-par fare and was surprised to find myself intrigued enough to give it a go.
And what a great read it turned out to be! Eddie Caminetti has got to be one of the great fictional characters of all time. If you love golf and love pedal to the metal characters then this book is for you. This is one of those rare books that you simply cannot put down and when it is over you will crave more. But the author's subsequent offerings, while good, are no match for his first novel.
This is the best golf novel I've ever read and if you are a golf nut, as I am, you owe it to yourself to buy this book immediately! I can guarantee you that you will just flat love this novel and its main character, Eddie Caminetti. You are in for a rare treat if you've never read this novel. Do yourself a favor and buy it now. I promise you will not regret it!
You represent everything that is wrong with the world. How can you find that offensive? Let me guess: you sill believe in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and that Iraq had the WMD. Grow up. If you are afraid of being offended, you should not think, read, nor speak.
Read this book. It's fantastic.
From the start, this book takes you into the world of a true golfer. It talks about a shot, a hole, and a round with reverence - just as people who love the game do every day. This is a great gift for the golfer in your life!!
Golfers will get even more enjoyment that people who just play golf.
I have followed this series with passion. I have loved the three previous books. Each was cleaver, funny and deeply entertaining. For this book I had to struggle to keep reading it and had to put it down on several occassions. I have yet to finish the book! I have read about 80% of it and could not go further. Although some of the commentary about society and corporate sponsoring is amusing, the book was conspicuously lacking enough of Caminetti. I read the books because of HIM. If you want to write social commentary send an editorial to the newspaper or go on Larry King. I paid to read about Eddie and escape the issues of society. I hope that the next (if there is one) is stongly focused around eddie and his adventures. The earlier books were such good efforts that this was a HUGH disappointment.
I'm not enough of a critic to comment in detail, I just love to read and this book got to me in a big way, not the least of which was the number of my "hot buttons" that MacAllister was able to express a lot better than I could. It's a great story, filled with characters you hate to leave (even the bad guys), and just when you think you know what's really going on, you really don't. I'm going to read all of his other novels as soon as possible, with fingers crossed that they're as good as this one.
I always grimace a little when picking up a sequel to a favorite book (or, in this case, bookS.) The strain to punch out cookie-cutter copies of a winner invariably goes south. But McAllister socks us with a hugely satisfying surprise by forgoing "just another golf novel." He has wisely chosen to stray a little from the links (although there's still plenty of terrifically clever golf action) and take us on a bitingly satirical ride all over the western hemisphere, with my favorite character in all of literature, Eddie Caminetti, flexing his considerable hustle-muscle in remarkable new ways. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, not just for diehard Eddie fans but the general read who loves intricate plotting and dizzyingly creative writing.
Troon McAllister, beloved by many for creating Eddie Caminetti and using him so wisely in his first three books, The Green, The Foursome and Scratch, completely missed the ball in Barranca. This book has less than 1/4 of it's pages dedicated to the man we love to see hustle, Eddie. The rest is filled with half-developed characters who we really have no interest in. We spend more time hearing about Mona Bertram's hair care than Eddie's golf hustle with the coffee revolutionary Barranca. While revisiting characters can be difficult the cover says " An Eddie Caminetti Novel" I don't think it was and wish I had followed the advice of other reviewers who suggested avoiding this one. Hope Troon finds the fairway with his next book.
Sorry Troon, but you put a snowman up on this one. What a big disappointment. I loved the other Eddie C. books... I always tried to read one as spring approached to get me in the golfing mood. But this ain't no golf book... and barely and Eddie C. book. I feel like I was duped. For others considering this as their next followup to The Green, The Foursome, and Scratch.... don't.
I was hoping that the Foursome would match the Green but as luck would have it the sequel is never as good as the original.
Another great one from Troon! Eddie Caminetti is a true hero in this novel about golf and, more importantly, character. The foursome in the book are recognizable folks we see every day - pompous, sneaky, timid, verbose, ... and their respective flaws are drawn out and exposed on the golf course. Whether or not you love golf, you'll thoroughly enjoy this tale. I've read both of McAllister's golf novels and recently bought the third (Scratch). I have found his writing to be so engrossing that it is almost a disappointment when you reach that last page. Read and enjoy!
I loved "The Green", as you will note if you look at my review and I was really looking forward to reconnecting to some of the characters from that book and enjoying the writing of another humorous golf adventure. Unfortunately, just like no one "owns" a golf game, Troon McAllister demonstrates that no one "owns" the formula to writing a successful sequel. The story starts out promisingly enough as you learn some of the foibles and fables of those that make up this particular foresome who are about to take their annual golfing vacation. This year they are off to Swithen Bairn, the most exclusive golf resort in the world where if you don't think you have had the vacation of a lifetime, you don't pay. The cost for the week is on the order of $18,000, so the promotional come on is not given lightly. As the intrepid four begin their vacation they are drawn into a match with "the owners", one of whom is Eddie Camminetti of recent Ryder Cup fame from "The Green". As the week plays out the struggle between The Foursome against The Owners and with each other takes some twists and turns that are less than pleasant until you feel you are trapped in some horrendous Twi-Light Zone and that all is missing is the soothing voice of Rod Serling. What was fun and funny turns ugly and mean and the story, to my thinking rather loses its way until it is tied up at the end with an Epilogue that is not worthy of the author. The story had possibilities, but they got lost somewhere on the back nine of the second match and never recovered.
Troon McAllister strikes again. So does Eddie Caminetti of course. This is episode two for McAllister's wonderful character, a broader and less spotlighted episode (in the first Caminetti plays in the Ryder Cup), but still a wonderfully funny story filled with instantly recognizable characters. A more subtle and intricately constructed book than The Green, this is the story of 4 wealthy friends who go off in search of a memorable golf vacation. They certainly find one and along the way we are treated to a most memorable golf novel. Golf, human nature and comedy are baked in liberal quantities in this fantastic yarn about hustling, greed and character flaws. So much is packed into these pages it's difficult to imagine the author has much scope left for a third episode for Eddie Caminetti. Lovers of Golf novels can only hope . . .
There are a lot of reviews comparing this book to its predecessor, THE GREEN, which is reasonable. However, in rating it, it should be rated on its own, not relative to one other book. THE FOURSOME may not be quite the rare gem THE GREEN was, but it is still one of the best books of its kind you'll ever read, and is terrific on its own, and fully merits five stars. I'd hate to think that readers of these reviews will get a misimpression that THE FOURSOME is anything but a superb story brilliantly told.
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