The Nine Lessons: A Novel of Love, Fatherhood, and Second Chances

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The Nine Lessons: A Novel of Love, Fatherhood, and Second Chances Pub. Date: 5/6/2009 Publisher: Center Street

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Overview

August Witte is firmly against having children. But after seven years of marriage, his wife is delighted when she realizes she is unexpectedly pregnant. August is terrified, recognizing he never learned the first thing about being a good parent from his father London. A widower since August was a toddler, London has always valued the game of golf—a sport August has never had any talent for—more than his son.
In spite of how he hates the game, when August confronts his father, he finds himself agreeing to meet each month of the pregnancy for a round of golf. In exchange, London will give him the only thing that could make August agree to pick up a club again—memories of his mother, which he has written on golf scorecards since the day he met her. But August quickly realizes that his father's motive is not to teach him about golf, but to teach him about life—and he may discover that the old man just might know something about it worth sharing.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

Sappy melodrama reigns in Milne's second novel (after The Paper Bag Christmas). Haunted by childhood memories of his golf-obsessed father, August Witte balks when he learns that he is going to be a father himself. August goes to his widower father, London, to confront him about his failures as a parent and reach some measure of inner peace. London instead offers him a deal: meet every month for a golf lesson and in exchange, London will give August his journal of memories of August's mother, written on golf scorecards. August agrees and as the lessons pass, he realizes that his father knows about more than golf after all. It's aggressively soft-focused, and though the conflicts between London and August are believable enough, the overarching theme is heavy-handed, while the preachiness can reach gag-worthy levels. This hits just in time for Father's Day, and the low hardcover price may incite more than a few impulse buys for the golfing man already stocked with single malt. (May)

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781599950747
Publisher: Center Street
Publication date: 5/6/2009
Pages: 226
Sales rank: 453,402
Product dimensions: 5.70 (w) x 8.30 (h) x 1.00 (d)

Meet the Author

Kevin Alan Milne is the author of the holiday novella The Paper Bag Christmas. He earned an MBA at Pennsylvania State University. Born in Portland, Oregon, Milne grew up in the nearby quiet country town of Sherwood, Oregon, where he currently resides with his wife and five children.

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Average Rating 4.5

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lollyguel4real

Posted September 19, 2011

I Also Recommend:

Book goody! 4 author?

I found this book to be quite interesting. It teaches and shows many life lessons and valuable ones. However, this book was a bit slow for me and began to drag on towards the middle. I love Milnes work, he is my fav author, however this probably to me isnt his best book. If I were you I would reccomend reading one of his other novel such as "Sweet Misfortune" or "The Final Note". These were both extremly excellent novels!!!!!!!!!!!! So to say, read those and if u love golf u will find this novel very intriguing.
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bluegrassboy

Posted August 3, 2011

Awesome Book

I just finished this book last night and it was outstanding. Picked it up while on vacation. It is a quick read that at times will make you laugh out loud. I think it is impossible not to take away something after reading this book. I will try to read some other books by this author.
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bibliophil

Posted February 14, 2010

more from this reviewer

A Vade Mecum for Loving Relationships --my subtitle for this endearing work

I'm having a difficult time keeping superlatives to a minimun when praising this delightful story. The "thread that runs so true" keeps running through my mind, & rightly so: this beautiful "vade mecum" for loving relationships doesn't just ring true, it peals! Anyone who's written must surely attest that "The Nine Lessons" was a tour de force, something every writer strives for -- the segues from lesson to lesson seamlessly flowed, all realistic, poignant, perfect.

I'm the world's worst golfer, & even so, loved the way all of the allusions to the game worked. The last line, pre-Epilogue, a hole-in-one for sure. :-)

I plan on giving copies as wedding gifts, hence4th. The importance of talking things over & using humor -- life lessons imparted from father to son in the most original way, thanks to this gifted author, Kevin A. Milne! In one of the last scorecard-diary enties, the protagonist August wrote about "serendipity", a word that sums it all up for me -- the time spent reading this insightful, inspiring, treasure of a novel, was for this reader serendipitous!
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grumpydan

Posted September 15, 2009

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The Nine Lessons

I do not play golf, but have reads two golf themed novels this week. I and enjoyed them both. Go figure. "The Nine Lessons: A Novel of Love, Fatherhood, and Second Chances" by Kevin Alan Milne is the story of father's nine lessons of golf he offers to his estranged son, who is apprehensive of becoming a father himself. But the lessons are about life, as the father states many times "Golf Is Life". The story is charming and I found myself a little surprised by some things; which made it all the more fun to read.
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SusieQ55

Posted May 17, 2009

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Another wonderful book from new author, Kevin Milne.

This wonderful story should be read by every parent, especially those who love the games of golf and life. After experiencing imperfect parenting both as a child and parent, the book shows parenting at it's best and worst, yet allows forgiveness in the lives of the two men. It was much easier to give my parents a "mulligan" or two after I became a parent. A wonderful story and great heart!
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Anonymous

Posted May 12, 2009

Loved it! Great read for fathers, mothers, or anyone looking to laugh & cry.

Nine Lessons, five Kleenex, and two thumbs up!
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