In Search of Tiger: A Journey Through Golf with Tiger Woods

I had been looking for this book since last June, as a gift for my son. He finally received it before Christmas and seems to be enjoying it very much. I was in his home when he received it and that was a pleasure for me. The book was in good shape, looked like new although I was told it wasn't. Appreciate your help in solving my problem...

Callahan's book can, at first, be considered a misnomer. The search for Tiger Woods is not conducted in this book-rather, we find that Callahan attempts to search for a sense of humanity within one of the most underrated, and often misunderstood sports: golf. Callahan takes us on a "tour" (forgive the unavoidable pun), through the often overlooked sport, though the eyes and stories of some of golf's most visible and legendary players. From comparing stories of Jack Nicklaus's and Phil Mickelson's introductions into golf, Callahan attempts to provide the reader with the sense that golf, much like football and basketball, has a vivid cast of characters. Callahan goes on to prove this, by exposing the reader to many great stories about those said characters. What ties all of this to Tiger Woods, is that Woods appears in this book as the looming figure, casting a shadow over golf (in a good way), and all of these golfers can only accept the fact that they all, currently, are underneath this shadow, and don't seem to have figured out a way to get out from under it. In essence, golf is Tiger's world: all of these great players are just living in it. For anybody who wishes to gain a better understanding of some of the noticeable figures in modern golf, this book's nothing short of an asset. For me, at the very least, Callahan provided a great collection of stories that gave a sense of humanity and depth to a sport that is far too often mistaken as a mere hobby.

There is simply no sportswriter on earth with as much meticulous insight into the minds of both the golfing legends of old and the stars of today as Tom Callahan. Admittedly, my expectations were lofty going in here, esp. after reading the astounding accolades bestowed upon Callahan on the book jacket alone -- from the likes of Costas, Kornheiser, Jenkins, Reilly, Nicklaus, and others. Thankfully, for once, they were all right. This book is indeed the whole package on Tiger, presented (ingeniously) not only via Tiger's own eyes, but those of his peers and predecessors. The golf history in the book is cleverly detailed yet pleasurably digestible. The first hand interviews with Tiger and his family are unprecedented. And the "Journey", for anyone REALLY interested in Tiger, is remarkably satisfying. Kudos to Tom Callahan for giving the sports world the preeminent Tiger bio.

Let me say this up front --- Tom Callahan is an immensely gifted writer. He is able through words to take the trite/boring and turn it into the phenomenally sublime. With an encyclopedic knowlege of all things golf along with up-close-and-personal profiles of current & past players, coaches, and associated fathers, he paints through annecdotes a circular, but no less complete picture of Tiger and his place in the great game of golf. This book is NOT per-se, a purely biographical sketch of Tiger Woods, but more of a wholistic and entertaining presentation of the past, present and future of the game and Tiger's place in it. If you love golf, watch golf, and love to read, you'll get more "bang for your buck" here than any other golf book I know of! And I've read quite a few....

A book you can't put down. You will learn more about Tiger in this book than all others combined. The behind the scenes information makes you watch and enjoy Tiger in a whole new light. Tom Callahan is to Tiger what Martin Gilbert is to Churchill. Buy the book.