Tony Lawrence had never been much good at golf and, once married and with a small daughter, the prospects of ever improving to a respectable standard seemed to have receded for good. Defeat by his 13-year-old nephew seemed the last straw. But then he was made redundant. Suddenly he could justify to himself one final year - a whole year - to try everything he could to master the damn game once and for all. Everything. Hacked Off is the story of that year. Lawrence goes to see a putting coach, a short-game coach, a golf physiotherapist, a nutritionist, a hypnotherapist and a professor of sports science. He spends a fortune on new clubs. Somehow along the way his marriage survives, despite the gouges in the furniture and the holes in the carpet. And at the end of the year, when he has promised himself a showdown match against his three brothers and that pesky nephew with the teeth braces - will he beat them, as he has to do? This is a hilarious and touching book about the game of golf, by a seasoned sports journalist who really knows how to write. Several years ago Aurum's My Baby Got the Yips was a critical and sales success shortlisted for the Best New Sportswriter award: Hacked Off is equally as good. Tony Lawrence was a sports journalist for many years. This is his first book.

本書は、ゴルフという底なしの沼に情熱を注ぐ男の、悲喜劇に満ちた魂の遍歴です。単なる体験記を超え、挫折や老化、家族の絆といった人生の機微を、熟練の記者らしい鋭い筆致と自虐的なユーモアで描き出しています。完璧を追い求める狂気と、一打に救いを求める人間の滑稽さが、読者の共感を強烈に誘います。 あらゆる科学や療法に縋る必死さは、一種の哲学的な自己探求へと昇華されています。グリーン上での孤独な対話は、人生の「負け」をどう受容するかという重厚なテーマを内包しています。彼の中に「叶わぬ夢」を追う自分を重ね、笑いながらも目頭が熱くなるような、不思議な連帯感に包まれる珠玉の一冊です。