The Bogey Man: A Month on the PGA Tour

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Overview

Humorous but also agonizing and unfailingly fascinating, regardless of one’s interest in golf. For the psychology of the sport—and this is what Mr. Plimpton is probing—there is nothing more revealing around.”
—New York Times
 
“Golf is a lonely and private game, lacking the natural drama of ...

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More About This Book

Overview

Humorous but also agonizing and unfailingly fascinating, regardless of one’s interest in golf. For the psychology of the sport—and this is what Mr. Plimpton is probing—there is nothing more revealing around.”
—New York Times
 
“Golf is a lonely and private game, lacking the natural drama of football, but Plimpton, by substituting improvisation for plot, has caught its mad comedy and bizarre effects on people in a book just as charming, in its own way, as Paper Lion.”
—Life magazine
 
What happens when a weekend athlete—of average skill—joins the professional golf circuit? George Plimpton finds out during a month of self-imposed torture on the PGA tour. In The Bogey Man he describes golf legends, adventurers, stroke-saving theories, superstitions, and other golfing lore, as well as his thoughts and experiences—frustrating, humbling, and, sometimes, thrilling—from thfe last green. This classic remains one of the wittiest books ever written on golf.

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Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher
"Humorous but allso agonizing and also unfailingly fascinating regardless of one's interest in golf. For the psychology of of the sport—and this is what Mr. Plimpton is probing—there is nothing more revealing around." —The New York Times
 
"Plimpton will interest even the man who can't tell a pitching wedge from a putter.... This is really a book about a kind of madnesss with rules, and anyone can appreciate the appeal of that." —Newsweek
 
"Golf  is a lonely and private game, lacking the natural drama of football, but Plimpton, by substituting improvisation for plot, has caught its mad comedy and bizarre effects on peoplein a book  just as charming, in its own way, as Paper Lion." —Life magazine
 

Named by Travel & Leisure Golf magazine as one of "The 25 Best Golf Books Ever"

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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781599218076
  • Publisher: Lyons Press, The
  • Publication date: 1/26/2010
  • Pages: 272
  • Sales rank: 627,559
  • Product dimensions: 5.50 (w) x 8.40 (h) x 0.80 (d)

Meet the Author

George Plimpton (1927–2003) was the best-selling author and editor of nearly thirty books, as well as the cofounder, publisher, and editor of the Paris Review. He wrote regularly for such magazines as Sports Illustrated and Esquire, and he appeared numerous times in films and on television.

Biography

The scion of New England bluebloods who traced their ancestry back to the Mayflower, affable WASP George Plimpton was one of the 20th century's most beloved literary figures. Raised in Manhattan and educated at Phillips Exeter Academy, Harvard University, and King's College, Cambridge, Plimpton co-founded The Paris Review in 1953 and served as its editor and guiding light for the next half century. Under his stewardship, the journal became a showcase for serious fiction and poetry by new and emerging writers. It also introduced a new style of author interview emphasizing the creative process and the writer's craft. Called by Salman Rushdie "the finest available inquiry into the 'how' of literature," the Paris Review interview remains an integral part of the magazine.

In addition to these highbrow pursuits, Plimpton is also responsible for originating a popular literary genre. Gregarious and adventurous by nature, he followed his intellectual curiosity into Walter Mitty-like arenas, then chronicled his exploits—most of them noble failures—in works that came to be categorized as "participatory journalism." He sparred with heavyweight champ Archie Moore, pitched in an all-star exhibition baseball game, played percussion for the New York Philharmonic, and tried out for the circus. And although he was famous for lighthearted reportage (most notably Paper Lion, his sidesplitting 1966 account of training with the Detroit Lions football team), he proved his literary chops with well-received oral biographies of Edie Sedgwick and Truman Capote.

Instantly recognizable for his tall, lanky frame and upper-crust Brahmin accent, Plimpton was a popular fixture of the Manhattan literary and social scene. Upon his death in September, 2003, The New York Times recalled his "boundless energy and perpetual bonhomie." Five years later, Random House published George, Being George, an affectionate oral biography composed of anecdotes from more than 200 people who knew Plimpton in his many capacities. Editor and longtime Paris Review colleague Nelson Aldrich described the book as a "kind of literary party, George's last."

Good To Know

Like his grandfather and father before him, Plimpton enrolled in the prestigious New Hampshire prep school, Phillips Exeter Academy. He spent most of his time either in detention or on probation, and was finally expelled several months shy of graduation. The family was chagrinned, and Plimpton spent many years trying to atone for his failure. By the way, he graduated right on schedule from Daytona Beach High School!

Plimpton loved athletics, and much of the "participatory journalism" for which he's famous revolves around sports. He wrote books about his less-than-successful exploits in professional baseball (Out of My League), football (Paper Lion; Mad Ducks and Bears), golf (The Bogey Man), and hockey (Open Net).

He also loved fireworks and spent a lot of time with the Grucci family, whose Long Island-based company produced spectacular displays. He chronicled his longtime passion in the 1984 book Fireworks, and Mayor John Lindsay appointed him Fireworks Commissioner of New York, an unofficial title totally unrelated to government.

Plimpton made occasional forays into film, usually as an extra or in cameo appearances as himself.

A longtime friend of the Kennedy clan, Plimpton was with Bobby Kennedy in 1968 when the presidential candidate was assassinated. He also was in Norman Mailer's apartment the night the writer stabbed his wife.

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    1. Date of Birth:
      March 18, 1927
    2. Place of Birth:
      New York, NY
    1. Date of Death:
      September 25, 2003
    2. Place of Death:
      New York, NY
    1. Education:
      B.A. in English Literature, Harvard University, 1950; Master's degree, Cambridge University, 1952

Read an Excerpt

"Why don't you try Ben Hogan?" the member asked.
 
He said he would call him—he was a good friend—and put in a word for me. Hogan was in the vicinity preparing for the Masters, as he did annnually at the Seminole Golf Club north of Palm Beach.
 
I thanked the member, and a few days later, on his say-so, I called Hogan. I explained somewhat haltingly that I wanted to write an article about commpeting against great professionals. Perhaps a match could be arranged.
 
I can remember his voice in reply—polite and easy. It took me awhile to realize that he was turning me down. He said, yes, our mutual friend had described the notion to him. He said he had no ojection to playing a friendly match, perhaps along with the friend who had put us in touch. A good player a former Harvard captain, did I know that? Yes, I said. But Hogan  went on, if I intended to write about playing against him in a competiton, well, that was another matter. The conditions would have to be those of a tournament..
 

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