Spikes: A Novel

At 26, Brian Schwan is washed up. Four years hacking away on third-rate golf courses across the South have produced a grand total of $19,000 in earnings, zero wins, and a string of spectacular tournament flame-outs. He's just shot a horrendous opening round, his wife wants him to come home and start a family, and even his father, who dreamed of seeing his son a star golfer, seems to have given up on his game. Critically acclaimed on its hardcover publication, Spikes is a sharply observed novel about the obscurity of our motivations, our capacity for self-delusion, and the surprising, unexpected possibilities for grace.

While Spikes has some of the best writing on golf ever penned, the struggles of a character coming to grips with his own failings will hit a nerve with all readers, golfers and non-golfers alike.