| Details | | Publication Date: | 1996-06-01 |
| Size | | Length: | 278 pages | | Height: | 9.5 in | | Width: | 6.5 in | | Thickness: | 1.2 in | | Weight: | 18.4 oz |
Publisher's Note
Missing Links is the story of four middle class buddies who live outside of Boston and for years have been 1) utterly obsessed with golf and 2) a regular foursome at Ponkaquoque Municipal Course and Deli, not so fondly known as Ponky, the single worst golf course in America. Just adjacent to these municipal links lies the Mayflower Country Club, the most exclusive private course in all of Boston and a major needle in their collective sides. Frustrated by the Mayflowers finely manicured greens and snooty members, three of Ponkys finest and most courageous--Two Down, Dannie, and Stick--set up a bet: $1,000.00 apiece, and the first man to somehow finagle his way on to the Mayflower course takes all. Lying, cheating, and forgery are encouraged, to put it mildly, and with the constant heckling and rare aid of Chunkin Charlie, Hoover, and Bluto--a few more of Ponkys elite--the games begin. One of the three will eventually play the Mayflower's course, but their friendships--and everything else--will change as various truths unravel and the old Ponky starts looking like the home they never should have left. Missing Links is a tremendously funny and fun-spirited novel about the smaller pleasures in life, and the perfect gift for anyone who is even remotely in love with the game of golf.
Raymond Lee Hart - better known to his unshaven buddies as Stick - has a pretty good life, most of it spent at Ponkaquogue Municipal Golf Course and Deli, the single worst golf course in America. For Stick, Dannie, Two Down, Thud and the rest of the "Chops", Ponky is a little slice of paradise - if you picture paradise with a rusted-out '57 Chevy on the 8th hole and ninety-five-cent egg sandwiches waiting after the round. Mostly, the Chops like to bet, a habit that's about to get them into serious trouble. Just adjacent to Ponky, over a twelve-foot-high hedge, lies the Mayflower Country Club, the most exclusive private club in all of Boston. For the Chops, it is both an irritant and a lure. Tortured by the Mayflower's immaculately manicured fairways and intrigued by its fanatical exclusivity, the Chops propose a bet. Stick, the devious Two Down, and the slyly beautiful Dannie, Stick's sometime bedmate, plunk down a thousand dollars each, a small fortune for people who sometimes take the bus to the course. The first to play all 18 holes at the Mayflower wins the pot. Lying, cheating and fraud are encouraged. But as each of these three pursue their quest - and one another's money - the charm of their odd friendships, and their strange loyalty to Ponky, begin to unravel. One of the three will win The Bet, but it seems a hollow victory. Missing Links is a tremendously funny novel, but it is also a book wise in the ways of friendship and family, broken dreams and unexpected gifts. Above all, Missing Links is a long overdue tribute to those unsung heroes of the game of golf, the dog-meat public course and the incurables who play it.
Industry Reviews
"..[I]t's the social satire and pure irreverence that keep this story in the groove."
Los Angeles Times Book Review - Michael Harris (05/26/1996)
"You don't need to know your bogeys from your birdies to find at least three laughs per page in this novel....[A] enjoyable spoof of country-club class warfare..."
New York Times Book Review - Bill Kent (08/06/1996)
"...[E]asily the wittiest golf novel yet....A loving, knowledgeable, laugh-out-loud portrait of the Hardest Sport There Is, as practiced by the blue-collar rakes who compose golf's most devoted fans."
Franklin
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