Preferred Lies

'A literary sports book, Preferred Lies would be playful, personal, lyrical, tongue in cheek, elegiac, meditative, a personal and cultural exploration.' Surely golf is a game for posh people, country clubs and networking businessmen, for unfortunate sweaters, politics and trousers? Andrew Greig grew up on the East coast of Scotland, where playing golf is as natural as breathing. He sees the game as the great leveller, and has played on the Old course at St Andrews as well as on the miners' courses of Yorkshire. He writes about the different cultural manifestations of the game, the history, the geography, the different social meanings, as well as the subjective experience, the reflections between shots. He plays alone, with friends and brothers, with ghosts. The aim is to bring the reader the sense of being there, to experience the physical, emotional and intellectual, that co-existence of inner and outer worlds so characteristic of golf. He is looking for the essence of golf, the pure heart of it, which can be found, Andrew Greig believes, on the free 9 hole course on North Ronaldsay. An indispensable book for golfers and non golfers alike.

"Poignant, wise and funny, as well as exquisitely written... A book about golf about much more than golf." - Iain Banks