BookPleasures.com - http://www.bookpleasures.com/websitepublisher
Miracle on the 17th Green Reviewed By Harold Walters Of Bookpleasures.com
http://www.bookpleasures.com/websitepublisher/articles/1891/1/Miracle-on-the-17th-Green-Reviewed-By-Harold--Walters-Of-Bookpleasurescom/Page1.html
Harold Walters

Reviewer Harold Walters is not famous yet though he has been writing for half a life time. Over the years his short stories have appeared in a number of local magazines. Presently, and for more than a decade, he has written a column for Downhome magazine. He writes a humour column (My Imperfect Slant) for a local weekly, The Charter.He writes a bi-weekly book column (Book ReMarks) that is carried by several local papers.  He has also done book reviews for a number of magazines and newspapers. Harold is almost a dinosaur, but he is not famous yet.

 
By Harold Walters
Published on January 10, 2010
 

Author: James Patterson and Peter De Jonge
Publishers: Little, Brown and Company
ISBN: 978-0-316-09210-4


Author: James Patterson and Peter De Jonge
Publishers: Little, Brown and Company
ISBN: 978-0-316-09210-4

Click Here To Purchase Miracle on the 17th Green: A Novel

It may surprise some readers to realize that Miracle on the 17th Green is a “repackaged” edition of a story—the first collaboration between Patterson and De Jonge—originally written in 1996, not that it matters.

It isn’t necessary to be a golfer or a fan of the game to enjoy this short novel, but it would help. Readers not in the know might find themselves stumbling over some of the “golf particulars” thus interrupting the flow of the narrative.

Travis McKinley has been an advertising copywriter for more than two decades. For most of those years he has hated his job but like so many people who find themselves in what are—for them—unrewarding occupations, he has not found an escape route from his rut.

In Travis’ case his escape route doesn’t appear until the Christmas Day that he plays alone on the 17th green of the Creekview Country Club in Winnetka, Illinois. In what he later tells his wife is a “semireligious experience” Travis discovers that his game has—almost miraculously—become good enough for him to consider attempting to become a professional golfer.

Yet this “semireligious experience” isn’t the miracle of Travis’ story.

Within days, Travis is “let go”—euphemistically fired—by Leo Burnett and Company’s “ponytailed wonderboy creative director” and is unexpectedly given the opportunity—albeit a frightening one—to pursue his dream. Despite his disintegrating marriage, an unpleasantly widening gulf between himself and his children, and no small amount of trepidation, Travis dips into his Savings account and withdraws the entrance fee for the Senior Tour Qualifying School—Q-School.

This upheaval in Travis’ life isn’t the story’s miracle, just its beginning, perhaps.

Exhibiting unbelievable skill—Miracle is a kind of fable, after all—Travis has soon qualified for the PGA Senior Open at Pebble Beach. En route, he has challenged, defeated, and gained the respect of legends such as Lee Trevino. Finally, on the 18th fairway of Pebble Beach he is tied with Raymond Floyd and Jack Nicklaus for the lead in the final round of the U.S. Senior Open.

At this point, of course, Travis has already played the 17th green. The miracle has happened or—at least—has commenced.

Miracle on the 17th Green is a fable, a fantasy that re-affirms the idea that it is never too late to follow one’s dream. It comes as no surprise that this “miracle” tale has a happy ending; it requires a happy ending. Travis closes his narrative by saying, “If I’m not the happiest man alive, God bless whoever is.”

Click Here To Purchase Miracle on the 17th Green: A Novel