Nine-Iron John — Alan Shapiro

Jim Carlson's most vivid memories of childhood are of his estranged father's obsession with parring the Savage. Located on the island of Caramus, the 458-yard, par 4, 16th hole at Wild Links has presumably never been parred. At age twenty-five, Jim sets off to Caramus. Over the course of this golfing weekend, his life is forever transformed. There is the beautiful Tina, who presents Jim with a challenge to rival his own dream of parring the Savage. And there is John; a handsome, solidly built enigma of a young man who can knock the cover off a golf ball and plans to make his own run at the Savage -- by using a gold ball, a 9-iron, and a little bit of magic.


Nine-Iron John is a tale about reconciling a painful past with the hope for the future. It's about fathers and sons, the fertile territory of the male ego, about coming to terms with the pursuit of athletic and sexual conquests. It's about the search for dignity and self-respect, the desire to love and to be loved. It is the story of the journey that all men begin… that only a select few ever manage to successfully complete.