Synopses & Reviews
THE GREATEST GAME EVER PLAYED is the story of Francis Ouimet and Harry Vardon, who in pursuit of their passion for a game that captivated them as children, broke down rigid social barriers that made their sport accessible to everyone on both sides of the Atlantic and beyond, positioning golf as one of the most widely played games in the world. Ouimet and Vardon were two men from different generations and vastly different corners of the world whose lives, unbeknownst to them at the time, bore remarkable similarities, setting them on parallel paths that led with a kind of fated inevitability to their epic battle at Brookline years in the future. This collision resulted in the big bang' that gave rise to the sport of golf as we know it today.
For Mark Frost, Francis Ouimet and Harry Vardon represent everything that's right about sports in general and sportsmen in particular; gentlemen, champions, teachers, leaders, and each in their own quiet way, heroes. In THE GREATEST GAME EVER PLAYED, Frost attempts to create penetrating studies of both of these men, along with over dozens of the game's seminal figures, within the dramatic framework offered by the tournament when they finally met, one of the most thrilling sports events in history, the 1913 U.S. Open.
Review
"The shot-by-shot account of the 18-hole playoff captures the excitement of the day with its appreciation of the subtle shifts of the game and of the beauty of the Country Club....Captivating entertainment" Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
Classic, Highly Inspirational Story: Between murder trials, paternity suits, drug busts and steroid scandals, the front page of the sports section often seems indistinguishable from a police blotter. Today's star athletes have moved beyond a meaningful sense of connection to the people who admire them. The Greatest Game Ever Played is a return to the nearly forgotten era when sportsmanship wasn't just a buzz word, while simultaneously telling the story of the birth of the modern game. Greatestgameeverplayed.com is a terrific website filled with actual course details, historical images, chapters that were cut from the book, updates on the film coming from Touchstone, contests, trivia tests and more.
About the Author
Mark Frost is the author of the bestselling novels The List of 7, The 6 Messiahs, and Before I Wake. He received a Writer's Guild Award and an Emmy nomination for his work as executive story editor on the acclaimed television series "Hill Street Blues" and was the co-creator and executive producer of the ABC television series "Twin Peaks." He lives in Los Angeles and upstate New York.