The Downhill Lie: A Hacker’s Return to a Ruinous Sport, by Carl Hiaasen, is a look at his return to the game of golf after having sworn it off in 1973. After 32 years, and a couple of chance encounters, he ended up back on the course and, before long, was plunged headlong into golf again.
The Downhill Lie is a humorous account of the year and a half following Hiaasen’s return to golf, the “ruinous sport” that it is. From an innocent 9-holes with a friend that culminated with a big member-guest tournament, his return was filled with ups and downs and, frankly, more downs.
I won’t tell you whether he decided to stick with golf at the end of the journey, but I will say that he experienced some nice personal revelations.
The Good
- Hiaasen has a great writing style and is really funny. There were several parts in the book that actually triggered laugh-out-loud moments for me.
- Players that have been playing golf long enough will personally identify with every success that Hiaasen enjoyed and every setback that he faced. It’s got the feeling of a train wreck. You’ll want to turn away because of the uncomfortable familiarity with your own game, but you won’t.
- I love the cover photo (above).
The Bad
- Hiaasen gave up golf for 32 years. What’s wrong with this guy?
Conclusion
As hard as it is to understand why someone would give up golf cold for 32 years, it’s easy to understand his frustration. Hiaasen’s humorous style is sprinkled with just enough bitterness, dejection, and despair to make his tale compelling. We can all identify with parts of it.
I got a number of laughs from the book and tore through it pretty quickly. It was a fun read and I highly recommend it.
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Sounds like the kind of book that is right up my alley…I have actually never heard of Carl Hiaasen, nor this book. I must say that you do make it sound very intriguing, I’m definitely going to check it out. Great suggestion!