Golf in the Kingdom

Golf in the Kingdom

  • by Michael Murphy
  • Narrated by John Hannah
  • 6 hrs and 0 mins
  • Abridged Audiobook
3.96 (83
Ratings.
)

Publisher's Summary

Hailed as a classic when it first appeared in 1972, Michael Murphy's novel combines an amiable Zen mysticism with what many consider the very mystical - and sometimes downright frustrating - sport of golf. At its center is the charming guru of the Scottish links, Shivas Irons, whose instruction is as pertinent in life as it is on the course. After a long wait, this shamanic golf pro reappeared for the follow-up novel, The Kingdom of Shivas Irons.

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What the Critics Say

"Murphy's book is going to alter many visions." (New York Times Book Review)
"[Murphy has] put a lot of fine thoughts together here, most gracefully, and the book should have a long and prosperous life." (Joseph Campbell)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful

If you love golf......

Great narrator. Even better story line
Was referred by a friend as a book but Audible did it justice
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- Amazon Customer

Well Written But Too Mystical

This book is really well written and an enjoyable read. It definitely has some literary merit. It is also a great reminder of the spiritual side of golf, as well as a call not to think of the game as Western culture thinks of the world: overly technical, scientistic, or mechanistic. Great golf, Murphy suggests, does not boil down to technique. Instead, it is a microcosm of the world, life, psychology; it is a chance to improve yourself along with your game, or at least a chance to better understand yourself. It's almost a hymn to the poetry of the game with some great poetry of its own.

That said, it spends a lot of time - too much for me - on mysticism, what it calls "true gravity," para psychology, metaphysics (not the stuff of Western philosophy but the stuff of crystals and astrology), self help, and so forth. In that sense, it's almost like its theme (golf) is secondary and inconsequential to the main substance of the book (basically, I'm guessing whatever they teach at the Esalen Institute, which was co-founded by the author). I bet the author could have written the same exact book about any other sport or mystical experience.
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- R. Sanchez

Book Details

  • Release Date: 12-15-1999
  • Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio
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