His Ownself, Dan Jenkins
His Ownself, Dan Jenkins
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His Ownself
A Semi-Memoir

Author: Dan Jenkins

Narrator: Henry Strozier

Unabridged: 9 hr 54 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 03/04/2014


Synopsis

The colorful, sentimental, funny, affectionate, cantankerous memoir by the most colorful, funniest, most cantankerous-- and probably the most revered-- sportswriter of the last fifty years. Dan Jenkins is accepted as one of the greatest (if not the greatest) golf writer of all time, wrote beloved bestselling novels and abused more corporate expense accounts than anyone who ever lived. It's a touching, laugh-out-loud tribute to the romanticism of old-time sportswriting-- and the glory days of sports. As Dan Jenkins says in the first few pages of his memoir: "Sometimes, I envy my own childhood." A lot of us can say that about Dan's entire life. He grew up in the Great Depression, but he doesn't seem ever to have been depressed. He was too busy having fun and enjoying life. In His Ownself, we now get to share in the fun. Dan takes us back to his youth in Texas and his eccentric, wealthy mother-- with whom he never lived; he lived with his grandparents while his mother flitted in and out of his life-- and his sports fan father, whom he barely knew. We see Dan's growth as a sportswriter-- from his high school paper through to his first job at the Fort Worth Press-- and we understand what it was like to be a sports fan in Texas (it basically meant understanding a lot about passion, religion, heroes, and drinking). And then it's on to the glory days of Sports Illustrated, the most entertaining and most star-studded pages in the book. Dan was one of the handful of writers who made SI what it was for so many decades-- the most important sports magazine ever. Not coincidentally, Dan was also at the center of New York night life in those days-- hanging out at Elaine's while swapping stories with politicians and movie stars and New York's best writers and best bartenders. Above all, this is a sports nostalgia fan's dream book. And, in particular, a golfer's dream book. There are two chapters on Ben Hogan, whom Dan knew well-enough to play many rounds of golf with. There are up close and very personal looks at Byron Nelson, Palmer, Nicklaus, Tiger. Dan has covered every Masters and U.S. Open and British Open for the past 40+ years. He takes us behind the scenes of those tournaments to capture the drama, the humor and the absurdity of those events. This book is Dan Jenkins remembering, spewing and mouthing off about everything under the sun-- politics, hypocrites, political correctness, the past, the present, Hollywood, money, athletes-- and, of course, writing the way very few sportswriters have ever been able to write.

About Dan Jenkins

Dan Jenkins is the author of several novels and
nonfiction books, including Rude Behavior, Semi-Tough, and Fairways
and Greens. He is the sponsor of his own charity golf tournament, the Dan
Jenkins Goat Hills Partnership, which attracts players from around the world.
His column in Golf Digest remains its most popular feature. He divides
his time between Fort Worth, Texas, and New York City.


Reviews

A grudge-holding hack writes an autobiography that's not that great, even by standards of medium-form sports writing. The grudge-holding hack? First, I need to stipulate that I am NOT a fan of Tiger Woods, let alone the daddy-created hoopla behind it. That said. A fair amount of the book is about golf,......more

Goodreads review by Tony

The first part of this book is pretty fun as Jenkins writes about his rise through the ranks of West Texas sports reporting, but then about halfway through it turns into a series of anecdotes about all the famous people he's had drinks with and all the fancy hotels/restaurants he abused his Sports I......more

Goodreads review by Maggi

Good writer but too much "himself".......more

Henny Bogan Does His Ownself As expected, Dan Jenkins covers his own life as a journalist in superb fashion and with a self-deprecating humour. He is at his best when he delivers the goods on Ben Hogan, showing a side of Hogan not generally known. Jenkins cites three examples of Hogan’s legendary cu......more