Caddy for Life (Parker Kusek)

Title: Caddy For Life
Author: John Feinstein
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
336 Pages
I have heard of this book before and I saw that Yong read it. His explanation of the book made me very interested so I decided to read it.
Summary:This book tells about a story of a PGA Golf Star Tom Watson’s caddy Bruce Edwards who as a teenager was not good in school but passionate in golf. He worked as a caddy and he loved his job and one day at a tournament, he met a young 20 year old golfer Tom Watson, this is when the friendship had started and lasted forever. The first tournament together, they had finished in tenth place. During his career, he won 30 professional tournaments and 8 major tournaments with Bruce caddying him every step of the way. Bruce Edwards dominated coverage of the 2003 U.S. Open. This is a position not usually bestowed on a caddy, but Edwards is no ordinary caddy. In 1973, after forgoing college, Edwards walked on the course behind a young Tom Watson and has not looked back since. Watson would go on to win eight major titles, and Bruce Edwards was by his side throughout it all. Now, even as Lou Gehrig's disease encroaches on his physical capabilities, Edwards continues to do the job he's dedicated more than half his life to. Watson will enter the Masters tournament in April 2004 in what will surely be an emotional outpouring of support for Edwards. This will be a moving, dramatic, and thoughtful book about a life devoted to sports.

Audience:The audience of this book is people that play golf and have a liking for the game. I believe they will like it because I really like golf and this book really inspired me and also taught me some things I didn’t know.

Author’s writing style:John Feinstein was very descriptive with this book by describing exact things that happened in a certain tournament and the book was in chronological order which made it really easy to follow.
Example of his Style:“Watson matched Nicklaus’s birdie at 13, then bogeyed 14 and birdied 15. Nicklaus also birdied 15, so the two men were tied with Watson on 17 and Nicklaus on 18”(84).I liked how John Feinstein remembered every single detail of the round that Watson played that day.

Passages:“The rest of the year felt like a long run thorugh wet sand for both Watson and Bruce. Both were frustrated. For the first time, Bruce had understanding of what Brian and other caddies felt when their players weren’t doing well.” “But its all relative,” he said. “He was still twelfth on the money list and I was still making good money. Plus I knew it would come back. He was just too good and too mined for it not to come back”(82).- This passage was when Tom was on a slump when he was the first on the money list and slipped to twelfth place. Bruce was there for Tom when he was struggling. Bruce did not give up on him, Bruce had trusted him that one day he will bounce back and win tournaments again.
“They said I have ALS- Lou Gehrig’s disease, the gasp from both his parents was audible. Bruce could not remember ever seeing his father cry. Now, like Natalie, he was crying inconsolably”(198).- This passage struck me because it was really sad how seeing his father cry for the first time because his son was going to die.
“I think we both wanted to take the approach that this was just another win and that there were more to come,” Watson said. “We’ve always been that way. Celebrate, yes, but then move on to whatever is next. Ina a sense, we did take it that way, but in another sense, we both knew this was very special”(271).- I picked this passage because this was when Tom had won the 2003 Senior US Open. This was Bruce’s last time caddying for Tom because he was becoming weak. But this quote shows that Bruce is not done. He said that this is just another win and there are more to come. Giving up or finishing was not even in his head. He just wanted to win.
Interaction: This book became one of my favorite books to read because it was about someone who knew he was going to die didn’t give up and he moved forward until he couldn’t handle it anymore. He gave me something that I will treasure. It is not giving up when your going through hard times. Clearly Bruce was going through hard times but he never gave up caddying. He wanted to be walking every step with Watson until he couldn’t take it anymore. This book really showed strong friendship, they cried and supported each other when they needed help and encouraging one and another. This book overall was inspiring, and taught the importance of life and that you should not take