Final Rounds
Summary:
In Final Rounds, James Dodson offers a touching, heartfelt, often humorous tribute to his father and the game they both loved as he tells the poignant story of his fathers last days and how they set out to celebrate them with the golf tour of a lifetime.
With his father approaching eighty, Dodson planned a dream golf trip through England and France, where the elder Dodson had first discovered his love for the game some fifty years earlier as an airman during World War II. But when he learned his father was suffering from an advance form of cancer, the trip took on an added urgency. For Braxton Dodson had been given only a month or two to live.
Final Rounds takes us to Royal Lytham, where Bobby Jones roared home on the back nine to capture the first of his three Open championships in 1926; to the Royal Birkdale, where the same rains that swirled around Arnold Palmer in 61 fall upon the Dodsons; to the windswept undulations of Carnoustie, where Hogan played peerlessly in 53; to the famous Prince of Wales Hotel, where father and son stage a putting contest in the hallway; and finally to the legendary St. Andrews, where the younger Dodson finally discovers something of the secret of the games mysterious allure over pros and hackers alike.
But like golf itself, Final Rounds is about much more than just a game: it is about a journey of discovery between a father and a son, about long-held secrets finally shared, and about the valuable lessons a middle-aged man could still learn from his father on the importance of life, love, and family
Reviews:
"Final Rounds is a beautiful, deeply moving tribute to the love between father and son and their shared passion for golf. I have never read a more eloquent book about golf as a game where hearts can meet: "
- Michael Murphy, author of Golf in the Kingdom
"
A gripping, loving, and moving story about a man who does something for himself and for his father that all of us should o before its too late. James Dodson is an excellent writer who understands golf, mankinds most difficult game, better than most others writing on golf."
- Ely Callaway, founder and chairman of Callaway Golf
"
James Dodsons Final Rounds further illustrates how synonymous the terms golf and life have always been. You will enjoy this powerful and touching story between a father and son, and you will never read a sweeter testimony of that love."
- Ben Crenshaw
"
James Dodson has accomplished something in Final Rounds that every writer earns to experience. He has written a story that lives triumphantly on and of the page, one that elevates the craft of writing to mastery. It is not a book about golf. It is a book about who we may be in the best of our moments. And it is unforgettable."
- Terry Kay, author of To Dance with the White Dog
Faithful Travelers
Summary:
It has been said that life is what happens while you’re waiting to go fishing. Only weeks after his eleven-year marriage abruptly ended in an amicable divorce, James Dodson decided to go on a fly-fishing pilgrimage west. His goal: to heal his wounded spirit and explain as best he could the vagaries of life and love to his beautiful, precocious seven-year-old daughter, Maggie. So with his beat-up truck, Old Blue, and his aging retriever, Amos, Dodson and Maggie set out without plans or reservations, following where the sprit – and the lure of America’s mighty rivers – leads them, on their way to one of America’s grandest treasures: Yellowstone National Park. On the way Dodson discovers a great deal abut fishing, about America, and about the special relationship that exists only between a father and daughter.
They travel from the Adirondacks, once a fly-angler’s haven to the mist-shrouded Niagara Falls; from the Michigan lakes Hemingway roamed as a boy to small-town county fairs; from the majesty of Mount Rushmore to the mysticism of Harney’s Peak, where Black Elk had his legendary visions – all the way to the fly-fisherman’s paradise of the San Juan River. Together father and daughter are bound by a tie as resilient and unpredictable as a fly-fisherman’s lie. For as the emotional waters in which they fish become ever more turbulent, Maggie’s unspoken feelings of grief, anger and blame begins to surface – a depth of hurt that forces Dodson to face his own unacknowledged pain and, worse, leaves him feeling helpless to make everything all right in his daughter’s life again. Yet if fly-fishing has taught James Dodson anything, it is the rewards of patience, of following the wisdom of the course of the stream, the unexpected revelations reflected in still pools, and of course an abiding belief I plain dumb luck. With a little of each, these faithful travelers will find their way home again.
Literate, honest and deeply observant, Faithful Travelers is a beautiful meditation on the bond between parent and child and the nature of love and loss. James Dodson proves that sometimes life isn’t what happens while you’re waiting to go fishing: sometimes it happens while you’re there.
Reviews:
“"
James Dodson’s Faithful Travelers is more than a travelogue – a father-daughter bonding under the guise of fly-fishing. It is a journey of self-discovery equal to Dodson’s extraordinary first book, Final Rounds, and one that offers tender perspectives on the awesome task of parenting and of the perplexing task of being one’s self. A brilliantly written book by one of America’s most gifted writers.”" –
- Terry Kay, author of The Runaway
"
James Dodson has written what every woman who loves her father has been waiting for, and what every father who loves his little girl needs: the perfect daddy-daughter love story…That this woefully neglected subject doubles as a grand fly-fishing adventure makes it, I think, a new American classic….and a much-deserved, if unintentional, tribute to the new America Dad."”
- Jessica Maxwell, author of I don’t Know Why I Swallowed the Fly
"
“A unique and poignant odyssey of father and daughter in search of trout and a new sense of family. Faithful Travelers is a fly-fishing journey made immensely memorable by its wise and vibrant sojourners.”" –
- Nick Lyons author of A Flyfisher’s World
"
“Having set a new standard for the writing of family odysseys with his poignant Final Rounds, James Dodson now raises the bar clear up to heaven. Faithful Travelers is surely the sweetest father-and-daughter story ever told.”" –
- Paul Hemphill, author of The Heart of the Game
A Golfers Life
Summary:
From small-town boy to golfing legend, Arnold Palmer has lived one of the great sporting live of the twentieth century. Now, with the help of acclaimed golf writer James Dodson, he has created one of the great sports autobiographies of our time.
Reviews:
"Arnold Palmer has led a rich and singular life and has captured it in a wonderful book."
- New York Times Book Review
"A book fit for a king."
- Golf World
"Essential reading."
- The Guardian
The Dewsweepers
Summary:
James Dodson’s Dewsweepers tells the story of an eclectic, eccentric group of men who call themselves the Dewsweepers – so named because they are the first players off the tee every weekend morning at the old club in upstate New York where they all play.
Adopted by the Dewsweepers, Dodson sets out through the course of the seasons of one all-too-brief golf year to try to get back in touch with the simpler joys and uncomplicated leisures that once upon a tie had made him fall madly in love with the ancient game. As friendship deepens, and each man’s tale unfolds movingly and sometimes hilariously, James Dodson’s own life is ultimately tested – examined – ad changed for the better.
Through laughter and tears, he reveals intimate details, and finds that each Dewsweeper, including and perhaps especially the author himself needs golf and friendship at the core of his life.
Reviews:
"The Dewsweepers captures what is special about golfing friendships better than anything I've ever read, and I've read my share of golf books."
- John Gates, Winston-Salem Journal
"It may be Dodson's best book yet."
- The Philadelphia Inquirer
"Dodson uses a master's skill to tell us alot about golf and even more about ourselves. The Dewsweepers is an experience to treasure."
- Maine Sunday Telegram
"Written with warmth and an obvious deep love of the game."
- Golf Monthly
"A rarity: a golf book that is also a travel book. If you love golf you will enjoy these tales of men traveling the world to indulge a losing battle with their swig and the elements."
- Code Nast Traveler
"I heartily commend James Dodsons true portrait of golfers bonding."
- Daily Mai
l
The Road to Somewhere
Summary:
Bestselling author James Dodson sweeps readers along on his once-in-a-lifetime trip with his young son through the great cites and eccentric byways of Europe n a book that celebrates the wonder, comedy and adventure to be found in the most unlikely places.
There are two kinds of travel, someone once said, – first class and with children. As Jim Dodson discovered during the summer of 2001 when he and his ten-year-old son Jack set off to see the “old” world, traveling with a kid can almost make a grown man feel–and behave- like a child again. The stated aim of their larkish adventure was to try to circle the globe and spy the wonders the world has to offer, but the best-laid plans soon went awry. Father and son encountered many unforeseen obstacles to their journey – some hilarious and others heartbreaking – but they discovered something far more valuable n each other’s company: a world where, at the end of the day, unexpected laughter and pain can make us all friendly small-town neighbors
.
Reviews:
"The Road to Somewhere is a book about travel in Europe, reaching fifty and the ineffable thing between a father and his son. It is also an uncommonly companionable and beguiling narrative that demonstrates, once and again, James Dodsons wit, god sense, humility, and gift for language. It is a measure of his talent and humane spirit that he can make the reader see Paris with new eyes and love the old city indeed, the old continent all over again."
- Geoffrey Norman, author of Two for the Summit
"Dodson brings a rare sensibility to the craft equal parts expertise and humanity."
- Austin American Statesman"
"Remarkable...a touching story of a father's cherished time with his son."
- Publisher's Weekly
"A great,loving embrace of fatherhood."
- Kirkus Reviews
Ben Hogan - An American Hero
Summary:
Authorized, intimate, and definitive, Ben Hogan: An American Life is the long-awaited biography of one of golfs greatest most enigmatic legends, narrated with the unique eloquence that has made author James Dodson a critically acclaimed national bestseller. For the first time, Dodson explains the inner workings of Hogans life, and the guarded man few people knew.
Reviews:
"It doesnt surprise me in the least that this new book on the life of Ben Hogan is so interesting, all-encompassing, and well-balanced. I have been impressed with the talent of Jim Dodson, the author of this compelling book, since he worked with me when I did my autobiography a few years ago. I thought I knew Ben Hogan pretty well, until this book came along with some previously untold revelations"
- Arnold Palmer U.S. Open and British Open Champion
"At last we meet the real man behind the Ice Mon. Granted unprecedented access to Hogans personal documents and closest friends and relatives, Jim Dodson has produced an extraordinarily intimate and revealing portrait of golfs most enigmatic star. Not another word need be written about Ben Hogan this book tells the whole story." - - - George Peper, former Editor-in-Chief, Golf Magazine
"A thrilling psycobiography."
- Sports Illustrated
"Dodson's prose is as smooth as Hogan's swing, and his attention to detail will impress even th most persnickety golf fan. Reading Ben Hogan is tantamount to being out on the course without having to replace your divots."
- Washington Post
"The first Hogan biography to do justice to an enigmatic and complex sports hero, and as sich, it becomes the instant standard."
- Booklist (starred review)
"Impossible to imagine it coul be equalled, let alone bettered."
- The London Times
"Clearly based on relentless research, but this does not weigh it down...the writing is so silky it draws you on. There is real page-turning power."
- The Daily Telegraph
A Son of the Game
When acclaimed golf writer Jim Dodson leaves his home in Maine to revisit Pinehurst, North Carolina, where his father first introduced him to the game that would shape his life and career, it's because he feels he has lost direction. But once there, the curative power of the sandhills region not only helps him gain a new lease on life and find a new career working for the local paper but also reignites his flagging passion for the game of golf. And, perhaps more significantly, it inspires him to try to pass along to his teenage son the same sense of joy and contentment he has found through the game and to recall the many colorful and lifelong friends he has met on the links.
This wise memoir about finding new meaning through an old sport is filled with anecdotes about the many characters who are part of both the history of the game and of Pinehurst -- the Home of American Golf -- where many larger-than-life legends played some of their greatest rounds. Dodson's bestselling memoir Final Rounds began in Pinehurst twenty-five years ago, and now A Son of the Game completes the circle as it follows Dodson's journey of discovery back to the birthplace of his love for the game -- a love that he hopes to make a family legacy.
Reviews:
"Given that it's written by one of the sport's premier chroniclers and is set mostly in and around the bucolic grounds of Southern Pines, N.C.-a resort town based mostly on the pursuit of golfing-there is surprisingly little golf in this homey memoir, though that's probably for the best. Dodson (Ben Hogan; Final Rounds) recounts how he was gripped by a midlife crisis after a shakeup at his magazine and the deaths of several close friends and family members. These events, plus a desire to give his son the same memories of golf that his father imparted to him, sent the Maine journalist scampering back to his Southern childhood home. Although Dodson knows perfectly well that possibly uprooting his whole family is little more than indulging a "chance to live out a boyhood fantasy" of being a smalltown newspaper man, he makes the idea as appealing as possible. There is not much forward momentum in this excessively ambling and self-satisfied work, and it suffers from Dodson's tendency to record conversations with a level of detail that sometimes strains credibility. However, it's all painted in a glossy, buttery hue of such fine vintage nostalgia that it's all the reader can do by the end to not immediately light out for the central North Carolina hill country." (Apr.) - Publishers Weekly
"Draws on the deep, near archetypal feelings that dedicated golfers have for the game, its history, and their own connections to the fathers and mentors who first put clubs in their hands." - Booklist
"Dodson (Beautiful Madness: One Man's Journey Through Other People's Gardens, 2006, etc.) downsizes his working relationship to golf and upgrades the quality of his life when he returns to his North Carolina hometown. By 2005, golf was giving the author a bad case of professional yips. Dodson felt (and convincingly expresses here) that the PGA Tour, which he covered for a glossy magazine, had been drained of color and personality and was moving perilously far from its fan base. "Slow death by corporate prosperity" was fulfilling the worry expressed in 1960 by the founder of the Augusta National Golf Club, that "you'd eventually get one big business rather than a game." On a visit to Pinehurst, where his father had introduced him to golf, he was captivated by the town's easy rhythm, its scented air and the prospect of writing for a local paper about things that he loved and cared about-not to mention all that links time on Pinehurst's deservedly famous courses. The town's laid-back atmosphere is perfectly captured in Dodson's prose, whether describing a game of golf with his growing circle of friends, tendering nuggets of wisdom to his son ("golf and life are both games subject to change without notice") or even pondering death. Dodson's lack of pretense and his wealth of conviviality give readers a sense of investment in the man and his modest work, which is long on sentiment but not extravagantly so. A humane, insightful memoir of elemental composure and meaning regained." - Kirkus Reviews
American Triumverate
Reviews:
Most of golf history has been dominated by threesomes, from Englishman Harry Vardon, J.H. Taylor, and James Braid at the turn of the last century; through Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen and Bobby Jones in the 1920's; to Sam Snead, Byron Nelson and Ben Hogan in the mid-twentieth century; and on to Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus in the 1960's and 1970's. Dodson, author of Ben Hogan: An American LIfe (2004), focuses here on those midcentury titans, all born in 1912, and rescued a Depression and war-ravaged professional golf tour and launched the game's modern age. Alternating between the accounts of the careers of the three very different men - the quiet, pious Nelson; the out-going, free-and-easy Snead; and the demon haunted, practice-obsessed Hogan, the author effectively recreates an era when professional golfers competed for paultry sums, carpooled across the country, and were forced to play on many courses that bore little in common with the well-manicured clubs of today. The triumphs of Snead, Hogan and Nelson changed all of that, and the competition among the three gave postwar golf the headline-appeal it needed, setting the table for the game to be launched into the televsion era on the broad shoulders of Arnold Palmer. Dodson makes the most of the rich history he recounts with first-rate narrative skill, developing the surprisingly complex characters of his three protagonists with the care of a fine historical novelist. Absorbing reading for anyone who follows professional golf. - Bill Ott, Booklist, Feb. 2012
