cover image HOW TO QUIT GOLF: A 12-Step Program

HOW TO QUIT GOLF: A 12-Step Program

Craig Brass, . . Dutton, $19.95 (224pp) ISBN 978-0-525-94629-8

"Golf is... a nasty, vicious game, played mainly by educated people who, quite frankly, should know better." In this hilarious send-up of 12-step programs and golf-buffs alike, Brass challenges golfers to ask themselves 15 questions to determine if they are "problem golfers." For example: "Do you count going to the driving range with your [spouse] as a night on the town?" or "Do you envy people who can golf without getting into trouble?" Approximately six million golfers play more than 21 rounds of golf a year; they are benignly labeled "avid" golfers. Brass contends that if those same people shot up heroine 21 times a year, they would not be considered "avid" drug users; they would be called junkies. With that analogy in mind, he calls on all amateur golfers to admit they have a problem and seek the help they need before it's too late. Chapter titles mimic AA steps: "Admit you are powerless over golf—that your life has become unmanageable" and "Come to believe that a Power greater than yourself could restore you to sanity." Of course, in this case, that power would be named Jack Nicklaus. This is a quick airplane read, a perfect stocking-stuffer and a great gag gift from any and all golf widows or widowers. A foreward by actor and fellow problem golfer Jeff Daniels recommends reading the book to quit golf instead of having a frontal lobotomy: "It's cheaper and won't leave a scar." (Nov.)