Michael Bamberger and Alan Shipnuck are senior writers at Sports Illustrated.
"In their roman à clef about Tiger Woods, Shipnuck and Bamberger
thinly disguise as fiction plenty of gossip they've heard over
their four decades, combined, covering the PGA Tour. . . . What's
more relevant to the story, and to the reader--including, possibly,
Tiger Woods himself--is the way Tree approaches his post-scandal
life. The authors' idealized version of Woods comes totally clean
about his past mistakes. There are no staged interviews, no clipped
or dodgy answers. Tree Tremont lets his guard down, even cracks a
few jokes about the absurdity of his situation. He starts enjoying
the company of his fellow players and--gasp--the fans. Tree wins
that Masters, his game even gets better, and yes, fans fall for him
all over again. . . .When reading The Swinger, you can't help but
wonder: what if Tiger were more like Tree?" --Time magazine
"No, they didn't! Oh yes, they did! . . . An entertaining, clever
work of fiction that gives readers an inside look into pro golf and
life in tour . . . I'm still laughing." --Wei Under Par
"The Swinger is a raucous, lively and at times laugh-out-loud funny
look inside the world of professional golf and modern celebrity. .
. . The surprising ending should leave those still frustrated with
Tiger's post-scandal actions feeling satisfied. And I guarantee
you'll never think of Altoids, Vijay Singh, the wine cellar at
Augusta National or, for that matter, Tiger Woods, the same way
again." --Geoff Shackelford
"A devilishly fun summer read for sports fans, celeb-gawkers, or
anyone that just likes a good story . . . If you had any interest
at all in the Woods saga as it played out, you're nearly guaranteed
to love this novel." --Fortune
"A funny, fast-moving book . . . Dead on . . . The authors know
their man and know their game. . . . Credible and brightly apt."
--Janet Maslin, The New York Times
"A must-read for golf fans . . . I laughed out loud." --Yahoo!
Sports
"An enjoyable and enlightening read . . . Equal parts an inside
joke, an authentic glimpse into the PGA Tour, and a deeper look
into journalism and society's treatment of celebrities. . . . Even
though the story is a fictional account, Shipnuck and Bamberger
pour invaluable insight into their alternate universe with little
details that they've scooped up while covering golf for a combined
four decades." --Monterey Herald
"An entertaining, revealing, thought-provoking, and cautionary tale
. . . As you read The Swinger . . . it's easy to catch yourself
wondering: Is this what really happened? No one may ever know
exactly what happened to Woods, and the book is fiction -- keep
repeating that with each turned page -- but it provides invaluable
insight into the life and times of Woods. . . . The Swinger is a
golf book, but it is a 21st century sociology lesson, too." --Bill
Pennington, The New York Times
"Fast . . . Juicy . . . There's lots of insidery detail . . . Part
of the fun is squabbling with the authors' speculation about what
made Tiger--excuse me, Tree--behave the way he did." --John Paul
Newport, The Wall Street Journal
"Funny and raunchy . . . The book really shines when it provides an
alternate-history version of how a smart, sensitive, self-aware
Tiger might and should have handled his return to the tour." --Jeff
Neuman, Real Clear Sports
"Hilarious . . . A sensational novel of life on Tour." --Golf
Magazine
"It leaps to the top of the golf novel genre." --Bradley S. Klein,
senior writer, Golfweek
"Not a fan of sports books, or golf, or Tiger Woods, but I loved
The Swinger." --Jennifer Weiner, author of Then Came You and Good
in Bed
"The phrase 'ripped from the headlines' has never been more apt
than in this entertaining, funny and surprisingly poignant and
sentimental book by two writers who have been around since the
beginning of the Woods Era. They skillfully weave reality and
fiction to offer a morality play that, in the end, is more about
hope than a tabloid slash-and-burn. Bamberger and Shipnuck's
knowledge of the game gives the book a reality rarely seen in golf
fiction outside of Dan Jenkins. . . . There are enough
laugh-out-loud scenes to satisfy fans of the Jenkins Era of golf
novels such as Dead Solid Perfect. The one in the Augusta National
wine cellar, for example, will leave you howling. Unlike the
current problems plaguing Tiger Woods, The Swinger has a resolution
and it's one of redemption and optimism. Those who have admired
Woods and his remarkable skills since he burst on the scene will
finish the book wishing him the same fate." --Florida
Times-Union
"Yes, it is fiction, but it will tell you more about Tiger Woods
than we knew for years . . . And yes the golfer in the book is
nicknamed 'Tree' instead of Tiger, and yes there is an upbeat
ending, but in many ways this is a scary novel about the greatest
golfer in the world who lost his own soul on the way to the green."
--Bill Reynolds, Providence Journal
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