In the summer of 1930, American golfer Bobby Jones mounted a historic assault on the record books. In a four-month tear, he won the British Amateur, the British Open, the United States Open, and the United States Amateur championships. And then, at the age of 28, he retired. Mark Frost, the author of The Greatest Game Ever Played, tells the story of the most dominant golfer in history.
Sports Illustrated
Using his instinct for character development to delve into Jones' psyche, Frost identifies what makes Jones interesting and startlingly contemporary.
Scottish Golf Magazine
If you thought you knew the story of Bobby Jones . . ., then think again: this book is the engrossingly definitive account.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With clear, crisp prose Frost does a great job of bringing Jones' assault on the Grand Slam back to life.
Publishers Weekly
Before Arnold, Jack and Tiger, there was Bobby. After winning the Grand Slam of golf in 1930, Jones stood like a colossus over the American sporting scene. He is the only individual to have been recognized with two ticker tape parades down Broadway's Canyon of Heroes. Frost (The Greatest Game Ever Played) has written a swift, surefooted account of Jones's remarkable life and career. From Jones's precocious early days on the Atlanta links to his sudden retreat from the media spotlight, Frost covers every detail. The self-taught Jones began playing serious tournaments at 14 and quickly moved into the ranks of the world's best players. In 1930, he won the four major tournaments of the time: the British Amateur, the British Open, the U.S. Open and the U.S. Amateur, which sportswriters dubbed the Grand Slam. Following this success, Jones promptly retired. Later diagnosed with a rare nerve illness, he lived out his life as golf's elder statesman. While Frost's eager prose has an engaging, "you are there" quality, for nongolfers the question is whether they actually do want to be there. Frost strains to place Jones's achievement in the broader context of American history. As bedside reading for the literate duffer, this is a hole in one. For the average reader, it's a bogey. 15 b&w photos. Agent, Ed Victor. (Nov.) Forecast: The Greatest Game (2002) was praised widely, and cross-promos with the USGA and golfing events could help this new book gain traction among Frost's readers. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
Decades later, the name Bobby Jones says it all: a legend. His "grand slam" (winning the Open Championship, British Amateur, U.S. Open, and U.S. Amateur) in 1930 has yet to be duplicated. Frost's current work follows his own The Greatest Game Ever Played, a historical recounting of Jones's predecessors in modern golf: Harry Vardon and Francis Ouimet. Frost does a fine job of recounting the tenor of the times-the economics (the Great Depression), baseball (Babe Ruth and the Sox and Yankees), politics, and life in general. He also chronicles the emergence of influential sportswriters. As a biography, this allows the opportunity to see a Jones with flaws: club-throwing, quick-tongued, a middling real estate salesman. At the same time, Frost shows Jones as a complex person of single-mindedness, honesty, and piety. While not the last biography of Jones, this one is very well done. Highly recommended for all sports collections.-Steven Silkunas, North Wales, PA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
