The Volokh Conspiracy - Bobby Jones:

I have long been interested in the great Bobby Jones and have wanted to learn more about him, especially after working at his old firm, Alston & Bird, out of law school (the firm was formed from the merger of Jones, Bird, & Howell and Alston, Miller & Gaines). Especially cool was the "Jones Conference Room", which had a bunch of pictures and Jones memorabilia, including a classic autographed picture of Bobby with President Eisenhower at Augusta (if I recall the details correctly). In particular, the veterans at the firm would speak in hushed and awed tones about what a remarkable man Jones was, and especially his depth of character and honor.

So I was very excited to get ahold of Mark Frost's book, The Grand Slam: Bobby Jones, America, and The Story of Golf. I had read great reviews of Frost's The Greatest Game Ever Played (I have this on my shelf to, but decided to read the Jones book first). I thought the book was ok, but not great. For my taste it gets bogged down in too much stroke-by-stroke description of tournaments on courses I've never seen, and insufficient insight into Jones and his personality. The ties to the events of the age (the Jazz Age and Great Depression) seem somewhat forced to me, unlike Laura Hillenbrand's glorious Seabiscuit. So while it is certainly a very readable and entertaining book, it may be of more interest as a book about golf than as a book about Jones.

I thought the best parts of the book were the early and beginning parts, which I thought had the best insights into how Jones grew into the hero he later became (learning the mental side of the game) and the later parts, describing Jones's retirement and dealing with his crippling medical condition (about the latter, Frost repeats Jones's great line to Al Laney, "You know, in golf we play the ball as it lies. Now, we will not speak of this again, ever."). Those were the times where I felt like I was getting to understand Jones and his persona a bit better.

I know that a slew of books and reprinted books have come out in the past years in honor of the 75th Anniversary of Jones's Slam (not to mention that the British Open is at St. Andrews again this year), so if anyone has any recommendations of books about Jones or his Grand Slam that you would recommend, especially as a complement to the Frost book, please recommend them in the Comments.

	[Todd Zywicki, July 14, 2005 at 11:32am] Trackbacks Bobby Jones: I have long been interested in the great Bobby Jones and have wanted to learn more about him, especially after working at his old firm, Alston & Bird, out of law school (the firm was formed from the merger of Jones, Bird, & Howell and Alston, Miller & Gaines). Especially cool was the "Jones Conference Room", which had a bunch of pictures and Jones memorabilia, including a classic autographed picture of Bobby with President Eisenhower at Augusta (if I recall the details correctly). In particular, the veterans at the firm would speak in hushed and awed tones about what a remarkable man Jones was, and especially his depth of character and honor. So I was very excited to get ahold of Mark Frost's book, The Grand Slam: Bobby Jones, America, and The Story of Golf. I had read great reviews of Frost's The Greatest Game Ever Played (I have this on my shelf to, but decided to read the Jones book first). I thought the book was ok, but not great. For my taste it gets bogged down in too much stroke-by-stroke description of tournaments on courses I've never seen, and insufficient insight into Jones and his personality. The ties to the events of the age (the Jazz Age and Great Depression) seem somewhat forced to me, unlike Laura Hillenbrand's glorious Seabiscuit. So while it is certainly a very readable and entertaining book, it may be of more interest as a book about golf than as a book about Jones. I thought the best parts of the book were the early and beginning parts, which I thought had the best insights into how Jones grew into the hero he later became (learning the mental side of the game) and the later parts, describing Jones's retirement and dealing with his crippling medical condition (about the latter, Frost repeats Jones's great line to Al Laney, "You know, in golf we play the ball as it lies. Now, we will not speak of this again, ever."). Those were the times where I felt like I was getting to understand Jones and his persona a bit better. I know that a slew of books and reprinted books have come out in the past years in honor of the 75th Anniversary of Jones's Slam (not to mention that the British Open is at St. Andrews again this year), so if anyone has any recommendations of books about Jones or his Grand Slam that you would recommend, especially as a complement to the Frost book, please recommend them in the Comments.