The Swinger

by Michael Bamberger

A sports hero seeks a comeback in this wild, funny, and ultimately redemptive novel.

Genres: Fiction, Sports, Novels

290 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 12, 2011

About the author

Michael F. Bamberger is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated and the author of multiple books.

Reviews

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thinly veiled novel about Tiger Woods. Tree Tremont is a biracial golfer coached by his father to be the greatest athlete of all times. His nemesis on the PGA tour is Will Martinson, a clone of Phil Michelson. Tree’s life falls apart when his Italian swimsuit model wife learns of his many indiscretions with hundreds of women.
The story is depressing and slanderous at times. However, Tree remakes himself in the end. It makes me want to read Bamberger’s biography, The Second Life of Tiger Woods.

[MIchelle Nolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good stuff especially if you enjoy golf- good even if you don't. Picked this us from a Little Free Library- probably wouldn't have bought it myself. I plan on passing it on to some golf friends of mine. It's pretty juicy and loosely based on the Tiger Woods scandal. Not my normal read, but I enjoyed the book and the behind the scenes look at the Masters and the world of professional golf.

[Marian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it.

Even though I know diddly about golf, it was fun to read about the game the authors clearly love. I always find it difficult to read through the first half of any story with a redemption arc, but this wasn't bad. And I thought Josh was an excellent choice as the narrator.

[David Edie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel's story turns the Tiger Woods story into something of a happy-ending fairytale (no pun intended). While not the most intellectually creative idea, it's a good guilty pleasure read for any golf obsessive.

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

Easy reading, but not real enjoyable. The main character is so obviously based on Tiger Woods, it seems like a fictionalized account of him.

[Christopher DuMont · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book - really enjoyed the content and wonder how much was true - will be interested to read Tiger’s autobiography someday

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fictional take on Tiger Woods, I enjoyed it.

[Yurimayra Mendoza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un libro bueno.

[Renée Milani walsh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dragged myself through this one. Only partially entertaining. Wasn’t worth my time.

[Bryan McCullick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read.

Two great writers. They know golf and it comes through. Would recommend to any one. Finished in a couple days.

[Jodell Larimer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book to read from historical perspective.

[Ryan Dossey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little confused about what is real and what is fictionalized.

[Gommers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting insight into one of the most famous golf professionals and not surprising at all. Makes me want to go back in time and looks at what was happening in the news.

[Corny · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book started off like a barnburner but it sputtered out badly in the last third, becoming a fairy tale instead of a novel. The resemblances to Tiger Woods are, of course, obvious but the characterizations of some of the other golfers are absurd. Jack Nicklaus who is idolized as some kind of God in this book is anything but in real life. Phil Mickelson, thinly disguised here as Will Martinsen, is also assumed to have saintlike qualities. While the golf lore is entertaining, the plot is not. The Tree character is not remotely believable either in his darkest state nor in his angelic state, achieved at the end of the story. If you take any of the characterizations as remotely connected to their real life persona, you would be making a big mistake. On the other hand, when they are so thinly disguised, or, as in the case of Nicklaus and Palmer, not disguised at all, what are you supposed to do. I did love the allusions to past championships and to great quotes from Hogan etc but you can get this kind of nostalgia from many other books without slogging through this ridiculously plotted novel.

[Joel Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this fictional take on the Tiger Woods mess. It reminded me of Primary Colors in trying to get at the essential character of the real person while engaging in some pretty funny, brutal satire on the modern celeb world. The ending was a little too pat for my taste. And I don't think it went as deep as Primary Colors. But it was a fun read. With it's journalist turned PR weasel narrator, it also reminded me of PJ ORourke's Thank You for Smoking, and tackled some of the same moral dilemmas. These guys aren't as good sentence for sentence as orourke or Joe Klein, but this is a definite recommendation.

One caveat. WTF is with the crap proofing of the kindle edition of this book? Paragraphs breaking wrong and weird little headers inserted in the next. It's like nom one even looked at it aft they converted the file. In this price range, that sucks.

[Christi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read an excerpt in Sports Illustrated. Thought it was a feature piece at first and was trying to figure out who this player was. Then I realized it was fiction! That's how good and engrossing this excerpt was. Can't wait to read the whole book.

------------
I really enjoyed this book. The sections during golf tournaments read like long feature pieces in Sports Illustrated. I personally love to read the Sports Illustrated features even if I'm not a die hard fan of the sport being spotlighted. Yes, I even read the soccer and car racing pieces. I love the story telling/writing style of Sports Illustrated.

I liked that this story was told from the point of view of Josh, the sports writer.

The ending was a smidge too fairy tale but still it was nice to see how it turns out for all involved in the book.

[Shauna · Rating 3 out of 5]

My boyfriend read this, being very interested in golf. He suggested I read it, said he thought I would enjoy it. I was very optimistic, but I did end up enjoying it. Because it is based "loosely" on Tiger Woods, and the fall of his "world," - it was interesting to read. I found that I am more interested in the sport now (which comes in handy when I have to watch it on TV with him) - and I like that. The story was well written, it was easy to read. You didn't have to know much about golf to enjoy the book, there was no instances where I felt like I was lost in translation. Overall, I would say good, easy read.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up on a whim and didn't expect to like it very much, but was actually quite surprised. The story was entertaining and I thought it ultimately carried a pretty good message. The major thing I noticed that Ididn't particularly care for was how quickly, and completely, the main character changes his ways. Sure, he struggles with it for awhile, but, by and large, he makes a complete turn-around by the end of the novel and is an exemplary person. I know this sounds a little cynical, but everything was just tied together too nicely at the end.

[Kent Krause · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tells the story of Tree Tremont, a fictionalized version of Tiger Woods. Contrasts the golfer's wholesome public image with the serial transgressions of his private life. Provides a behind-the-scenes viewpoint of a superstar athlete's life, while satirizing the public's obsession with celebrity. Unfortunately, the book loses steam in the final chapters and three putts the 18th green with a saccharine ending.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's light but well done. The lovely end to this story is that Tiger - I mean Tree - is redeemed by rehab, talk therapy, realism- the same realism about his situation that helps him to be a great golfer, and total honesty with his wife, father, and the public. And in the story it works so well and makes so much forgivable, that you pine for the real Tree, Tiger Woods, to do the same.

[Maurice · Rating 1 out of 5]

Frankly, I would not have read this book if it had not been thrust upon me by my golfing buddies. It is a fictionalized account of Tiger Woods' life and not too interesting at that. The hero's name is Tree Tremont. I didn't even like the name they gave him. It should have been Rhino Steele, or something else more interesting. Anyway, the book is boring beyond belief.

[Paul McBride · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very funny book about a golfer who is so hot and ranked as the top athlete in the world. Unfortunately he likes sex with people other than his wife a little too much. Does this person sound familiar?[return]For the record it is not as good as "The Franchise Babe" by Dan Jenkins but you will definitely find it amusing.

[Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

A thinly disguised allegory about Tiger Woods fall from grace, the story is a page turner. However, the raunchiness and lack of backbone point to the story made it feel a little like a cheap moneymaker.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is not hard to see this book is based on the disintegration of the Tiger Woods brand. It was humorous in parts and had me wondering how much of the story was based on true events. All in all, I'd say it was a good summertime beach read.

[Rebekah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh, it was so hard *not* to think of Tiger Woods reading this. While that's probably what the authors intended, I had to remind myself that this isn't a biography of Woods. Ripped from the (tabloid) headlines with a few comical twists, The Swinger was a delightful mix of golf, gossip, and humor.

[Tina Verde · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a sports junkie, I did think the book was fairly interesting. I did find it a little cheesy at times, but enjoyed the overall story. It does make me curious as to how much of it is close to reality. It's a quick and easy read.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book!!

However, I think the one problem I had with it was near the end of it. Maybe it's just me but I find it very hard to believe that after everything that happened they all were like one big happy family.

[Jason Shinkunas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not going to win any prizes for subtleness, nor would I say it was much of a literary masterpiece, but I read this in a day and a half and I was anxious to pick it up every time I put it down. It knows what it is, and it does it well. Very entertaining.

[Pat Albu · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very thinly veiled story about Tiger Wood's success and then horrific downfall after his sex escapades were made public. It was a fun read for someone like me who follows golf, but it is not the Great American Novel!

[Al Stoess · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it. Supposedly about Tiger Woods but I doubt. The character, Ty, is more likeable than Woods. Book written to take advantage of Woods' problems.

Ty turns out to be "good". Ending is not believable for me.