Winter Dreams

Winter Dreams is one of the best novels I have read that also happens to be about golf. Like most of us, Ross Lansdale, the protagonist is not a good golfer, but it nevertheless is important in his life. Golf is a thread that connects his otherwise empty and lonely life until...I don't want to give the plot away, but I do want to explain why this book is valuable. (1) Ross is a good man who has bad things happen to him, but never ceases to be human. He struggles through several challenges in his life and always struggles on. (2)The clouds don't suddenly lift and everything become wonderful. This is good in a book; life is not a bowl of cherries, eh? (3) But the best thing about this book is that it gets at the essential sadness that is within many of us, without becoming sappy, preachy or melodramatic. (4)It is easy to care about all of the key characters in the book, even the ones who act badly. They have their own motivations which have nothing to do with wanting to cause pain. A rare quality in even good books.(5) And finally, I received several good tips which seem to be helping my struggling golf game.In conclusion, so many books on golf come off as mystical or are written about great golfers. It is wonderful to have a book about a hacker, who gets real joy from just trying to play and for the higher honor of friendship.