A Son of the Game - by James Dodson (Paperback)

About the Book

In this wise memoir, acclaimed golf-writer Dodson returns to Pinehurst, North Carolina, where his father taught him the sport. "A Son of the Game" follows the author's journey as he rediscovers the joy and contentment he had initially found in the game.

Book Synopsis

When acclaimed golf writer James Dodson leaves his home in Maine to revisit Pinehurst, North Carolina, where his father first taught him the game that would shape his life and career, he's at a point where he has lost direction. But once there, the curative power of the sandhills region not only helps him 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 in 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 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 his journey of discovery back to where his love of the game began-a love that he hopes to make a family legacy.

Review Quotes

"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

--Golf Today

"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

"A magical memoir of midlife crisis, teenage uncertainty and the power of a legacy gently handed down." --BookPage
--Kirkus Reviews

"In his warm, personal new book, A Son of the Game, James Dodson brings together the charm of both the game and the place in a story that you need not be a golfer to appreciate . . . Dodson's gift is in feeling and sharing the attachment to a game that is as bewitching as it is maddening . . . [His] book is time well spent. It captures the spirit of a game and a place that has captured so many of us." --The Raleigh News and Observer
--BookPage

"What do you get when you combine an engaging rites of passage story together with interesting golf history as relayed by a skilled storyteller? The answer would be A Son of the Game by James Dodson . . . A great gift for the golfing father or son." --Golf Today
--The Raleigh News and Observer

"Painted in a glossy, buttery hue of such 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."--Publishers Weekly