Jimmie James pens an ace of a memoir!
My husband loves golf and even managed to turn me into a fan, so I was excited to receive this book! I knew a bit about Mr. James and some of the story behind his quest to become the first person to play America's 100 best golf courses in a single year, as he is much admired in the golf world.
However, this book is about more than golf. It is an incredibly inspiring story about the author's life and his determination, perseverance, hard work, and deep optimism. I very much enjoyed this well-written and compelling memoir. Because of its conversational tone, I think this would be accessible to those who don't know much about golf. I don't play, but I have had no trouble following along. This is an uplifting, inspiring read interspersed with humor, life wisdom, and some poignant moments.
Playing From The Rough would make the perfect gift for any golf or sports fan in your life, for graduates, and for those who enjoy stories about inspiring individuals.
Thank you to Simon Books for the free book!
My steep, well, I'll be honest, I finished this book with my morning coffee this morning, but I do have a tea pairing suggestion. A rock oolong like Scarlet Robe from The Cultured Cup
Rock oolong is prized among tea connoisseurs for its rich and complex flavor, partly due to it growing wild in a small historic region.
SYNOPSIS:
Playing from the Rough: A Personal Journey through America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses
When he set out to play each of Golf Digest's America's 100 greatest golf courses in one year, Jimmie James knew he was attempting the impossible. But then again, he'd spent his entire life defying the odds.
James was born invisible. His birth certificate, long since filed away in some clerk's office in East Texas, recorded facts about him that were deemed most relevant in the late 1950s: "colored" and "illegitimate." His great-great-grandmother was enslaved, and his early life was confined by the privation and segregation of the late Jim Crow-era South.
Four decades later—having put himself through an HBCU and determinedly risen through the executive ranks at ExxonMobil—he embarked on his journey to play the 100 greatest golf courses in the United States. In a single year. From the first tee at Augusta National, the distance between the world he grew up in and the world of extreme privilege which he'd now managed to gain access to was impossible to ignore.
A remarkable memoir of race, class, family, and the power of perseverance, James braids his love of golf with reflections on the path that took him from childhood poverty to the most exclusive golf courses in America.
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