Scratch

I was wondering what to expect when I ordered this book as I had loved the first book in the Eddie Caminetti series, The Green and been very disappointed by the sequel, The Foursome. Well, the third time was a charm and Scratch comes through on all counts. It is funny, incisive, educational and thoroughly entertaining. The chapters that deal with the trial over the suit by the Medalist Golf Ball Company against Caminetti's golf ball company are as funny as anything I have encountered along those lines since My Cousin Vinny. Their is a lot of common sense wisdom imparted in the book about the gullibility of golferswho just have to have the latest golf ball or the most advanced club in order to play up to their maximum ability. All I can say about that is read and learn. To tell the whole story line would be to give too much away. Just trust me. It is a hoot!

I haven't read this author's other books but I am going to very soon. I got Scratch for father's day and went nuts over Eddie Caminetti. The writing is absolutely excellent and the story is great. I recommend it very much to anybody, not just golfers.

I'm a club pro (I won't say where) and can tell you without a doubt that everything this writer says about golf equipment in this very funny book is a hundred percent the dead truth. The people who make this stuff steal billions from unsuspecting golfers with false advertising and outright deception. What I'm ashamed of most is that people in my business go along with all the bull because of the fat commissions and free equipment, even though they know without question it's total bull. I've been teaching for almost thirty years and in all that time have never seen a club or a ball lower someone's handicap although I've seen members spend thousands of dollars year after year even though nothing they bought ever did them any good. In the last month I've had a dozen different manufacturer reps troop through my home club ranting about what an awful book Scratch is and why nobody in his right mind would pay good money to read that garbage. Well I did, and when I wasn't laughing or turning pages I was nodding my head up and down so hard it hurt. No wonder these guys are scared. Troon tells it like it is and pulls no punches. Don't spend money on the latest piece of junk, take lessons instead and read this book, but don't look for it it any pro shops because you won't find it there.

Never thought I'd hear myself say this, but THE GREEN has been topped. As good as that classic is -- and it really, really is -- SCRATCH has more to say that is stingingly relevant to today's world. McAllister's splendid dialogue is just as rhythmic, his prose just as tight, his characters just as interesting and his narrative pace just as crisp, but this time he turns his rapier wit loose on the predatory marketers who spend billions trying to take us all to the cleaners...and succeed. There is always something to learn from Eddie Caminetti, and this time it's a message you can't afford to miss, and......ah, to heck with all of that. Think of it as just a fantastically plotted, hugely entertaining novel as gripping as Clancy and more fun than an advertising war. *HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION FOR ALL READERS*

I love books that are not only terrific fun to read but also have something meaningful to say. SCRATCH puts me in mind of any number of classic novels that are cautionary tales about how easily manipulated we are. Even while laughing my head off I got uneasy at how marketers and the media conspire to treat us all like sheep...and how it's ultimately our own fault for failing to look critically at what's going on around us.But most important is the "laughing my head off" part. This is a rollicking good story with an incredible, intricate plot and one of the most delightful main characters (Eddie Caminetti) you'll ever meet.