The Amateurs: A Novel - Softcover

Niven, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0061875899 ISBN 13: 9780061875892

Publisher: Harper Perennial, 2010

Synopsis

Gary Irvine's wife refuses to sleep with him, so he pursues an even stingier mistress: golf. But despite his spending unconscionable amounts of time and money, his game is wretched. Until the day he takes a perfect swing . . . and then everything goes black.

After waking up from a coma a few weeks later, with a golf-ball-sized dent in his temple, Gary discovers that his last perfect swing has been imprinted on his brain. However, his newfound prowess is accompanied by some troubling side effects, most noticeably Tourette's.

As Gary miraculously advances to the final round of the British Open, his delinquent brother, Lee, stumbles from one botched drug deal to another, his orbit drawing ever nearer to the terrifying local crime lord Ranta Campbell. With their lives on the line, Gary and Lee must rediscover the ties that bind to survive a blood-soaked final round.

About this title

About the Author

John Niven was born in Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland. He has written for The Times (London), The Independent, Word, and FHM, among others. He is the author of the novella Music from Big Pink and the novel Kill Your Friends.

Review

“You don’t have to love golf to thoroughly enjoy this rollicking and at times howlingly funny novel about the game.....[Niven] also sneaks in some bona fide insights about family, and gratifying plotlines of revenge, romance, and friendship.” (Penthouse)

“Believe it or not, this novel makes golf look interesting. Trust me. This is a writer who could wring laughs out of pretty well anything. . . . Hilarious.” (The Times (London))

“A novel about golf that is not only hilarious, but gripping, sexy, violent, and outrageous. . . . Niven combines his increasingly bizarre plots, and some shocking behaviour, with considerable skill and, of course, large helpings of humor.” (The Mirror)

“The Amateurs shouldn’t work yet Niven is a master storyteller who switches between humour and violence with disconcerting ease.” (Shortlist)

“Brilliantly funny....That it is hugely entertaining is not a surprise but the fact that I lost hours reading about golf courses, and actually cared, is this month’s most winning pleasure.” (Word magazine)

“This tale of Gary Irvine, a hopeless golfer who, after an accident, becomes a phenomenal player, is peppered with brilliant moments.” (GQ)

“A raucous, filthy novel of golf.” (Waterstone's Books Quarterly)

“The Amateurs is a comedic piece of lad-lit filled with golf and gangsters . . . the author of Kill Your Friends proves that one’s second novel can be just as humorous as the first.” (Scottish Review of Books)

Edition details

• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0061875899
• ISBN 13: 9780061875892
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 400