As "The Golfer of the Century," Jack Nicklaus is a recognized authority on the game's history and direction, and in his 13th book, My Story, he shares the details of his most impressive victories. With 20 major championships under his belt, he has plenty of highlights to share, including shot-by-shot analyses of his classic battles with fellow legends Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, and Tom Watson. Indeed, Nicklaus seems to recall every shot of his illustrious career, and he is able to infuse his discussions of final round action with suspense, even though we've known the outcomes all these years. To this erudite study of golf the Golden Bear adds personal elements that reveal the man behind the one-iron. Nicklaus describes his business dealings--both successes and failures--his love of golf course design, the effects of celebrity status, and his childhood. Written with his longtime collaborator Ken Bowden, My Story is another eagle for the man whose name fills the record books.


From Library Journal
Nicklaus, winner of the Professional Golfer's Association's Golfer of the Century award in 1988, covers some of the same ground with longtime associate Bowden that he did with renowned golf historian Herbert Warren Wind in The Greatest Game of All (1969). Here, Nicklaus focuses on his Hall of Fame career, beginning with his victory in the 1959 U.S. Amateur Championship and concluding with his dramatic win in The Masters in 1986 at the age of 46. Shot-by-shot, hole-by-hole descriptions of many of his record championships are included along with his notions on the present condition of professional golf. With a graciousness and humility rarely found in sports biographies today, the Golden Bear relates his feelings about rivals (Arnold Palmer and more), heroes (Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan), and family. But it's when he describes what he considers the key mental requirements for winning consistently and his own approach to getting ready for a tournament that Nicklaus reveals the temperament of a tenacious competitor driven by the absolute need to win. Recommended for all sports collections.?Peter Ward, Lindenhurst Memorial Lib., West Islip, N.Y.Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.


The New York Times Book Review, Michael Bamburger
Particulars are the book's specialty.... For this alone, the book has value on a bookshelf, for Nicklaus's career deserves a formal record.


From AudioFile
Listening to Jack Nicklaus's memoirs gave me the sensation that I was on a golf vacation and playing well beyond my ability. Nicklaus is very calming in that unpretentious Midwestern way, and Ian Esmo's reading is controlled and blissfully unintrusive. It's like listening to the Golden Bear himself as he recounts the 20 major championships he won between 1959 and 1986. The book touches on Nicklaus's business life, his family life, and the great friendships he made along the way, but mostly we move along at a steady clip from tee to green. M.D.B. (c) AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Booklist
Jack Nicklaus has written numerous golf instructionals, but this volume represents his first swing at pure autobiography. It's a clean hit, like a Nicklaus tee shot. Structuring his story around the 20 major championships he won from 1959 through 1986, Nicklaus and coauthor Bowden deliver an indispensable survey of modern golf history. Remarkably, the shot-by-shot accounts of the crucial holes of those 20 tournaments never turn dull, as happens so often when sports stars recount their heroics. Rather, we see the action anew, through the ever-analytical and remarkably humble eyes of the best golfer ever to swing a club. Nicklaus' comments never fail to add depth and context to the reader's own recollection of these signature moments in golf's past, most often by allowing us inside his head, where we find, surprisingly, a large measure of self-doubt. What comes across most forcibly in this fine book is Nicklaus' respect for the complexity of golf and the never-ending challenges it affords players at every level. The chapter in which Nicklaus discusses being forced to entirely remake his swing in 1979 in order to stay competitive is perhaps the greatest testament possible to the rigors of golf. Discussion of his family life and business career round out the volume, but Nicklaus rarely drifts too far from the fairway. Golf fans won't mind that a bit; most of them are more interested in golf than real life anyway. Bill Ott


Book Description
In a long awaited autobiography, the "Golden Bear" chronicles his life in golf, discussing his youth, rise to the top of the golfing world, record-breaking career, relationships with other golfers, family and the issues of the game.

ANNOTATION

This long-awaited autobiography of the greatest golfer of all time chronicles the life and astounding career of Jack Nicklaus, winner of 20 major championships, comprising two U.S. Amateurs, six Masters, four U.S. Opens, three British Opens, and five PGA Championships. 16 pp. of photos. Complete Nicklaus statistical appendix. 480 pp. National ads & publicity. 125,000 print. (Autobiography)

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Jack Nicklaus: My Story is Jack Nicklaus's complete and compelling inside, in-depth account of those legendary majors triumphs, along with many other competition highlights - and some lowlights, too - of one of the greatest sports careers of all time. But, because this fascinating man has always been so much more than a professional athlete, his long-awaited autobiography is vastly more than a book about winning and losing. Revealed with the unfailing candor and intensity that are his most distinctive personality traits, here are all of the Jack Nicklauses his legions of admirers, and even some of those close to him, have never known the son, whose eyes still well up at the mention of his father; the husband, deeply aware of how much the strength, resilience, charm, and love of a woman content to remain in the shadows have meant to both his public image and private happiness; the famous father who, every day of his life, really has put his children first; the artist, tirelessly creating highly acclaimed courses so that others can enjoy his beloved game; the businessman, staggeringly successful at times, staggeringly unsuccessful at others; the analyst of the methods and makeups of the golfers who pushed him hardest and, most candidly of his own strengths and weaknesses; the commentator offering deep insights and strong opinions on the whys and wherefores of an occupation that has been extremely rewarding for him, yet one that he still regards as purely a game; and the multimillionaire, jet-plane-owning, world-traveling celebrity who is happiest hanging around home in a pair of shorts, then taking the kids to a family restaurant for dinner.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Most golf pros, amateurs and just plain fans agree that Nicklaus, who has won 20 major golf tournaments, may be the best ever at the game. In this autobiography, which is Nicklaus's seventh collaboration (Golf My Way, etc.) with Bowden, the Golden Bear catalogues the highlights of his amazing career. Two elements of the book are striking: eschewing false modesty, Nicklaus several times refers to himself as a great golfer; and he displays a mind-boggling ability to recall his best and worst shots, even at a remove of more than 30 years. He begins with his first U.S. Amateur Championship in 1959, when he was 19, and his selection for the Walker Cup team that same year. Then come his first pro victory, the U.S. Open in 1962, and accounts of his three subsequent U.S. Open wins, his three British Open titles, his five PGA championships and his unparalleled six Masters victories. The last of these, the 1986 triumph, Nicklaus considers his most fulfilling win, because he had not taken a major championship in six years and because, battling for this last crown, he was cheered on by the fans, a far cry from his status 30 years before, when he was hated for dethroning the popular Arnold Palmer. Along the way, Nicklaus pays tribute to his father, his teachers, his fellow players, many of whom offered him valuable tips over the years, and above all his wife, in his view the perfect partner. There are valuable hints on the mental set necessary to play superior golf and on matters of technique. No links fan will want to miss this warm and personal memoir by the greatest of the great. Photos not seen by PW. 125,000 first printing; first serial to Golf Magazine. (Apr.)

Library Journal