Product Description

Michael Murphy's Golf in the Kingdom is one of the bestselling golf books of all time and has been hailed as "a golf classic if any exists in our day" (John Updike) and "a masterpiece on the mysticism of golf" (San Francisco Chronicle).  Golf in the Kingdom introduced Shivas Irons, the mysterious golf pro and philosopher with whom Murphy played a mythic round of golf on Scotland's Burningbush links, a round that profoundly altered his game--and his vision.

The Kingdom of Shivas Irons is the enchanting story of Murphy's return to Scotland in search of Shivas Irons and his wisdom about golf and human potential.  Murphy's quest takes him from the mystical golf courses of Scotland, across the world to the first Russian Open Golf Championship, and finally to Pebble Beach on the California Coast.  The result is a delightful exploration of the inner game of golf and a provocative inquiry into our remarkable possibilities for growth and transformation.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #290538 in Books
• Published on: 1998-10-13
• Released on: 1998-10-13
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 7.71" h x .70" w x 4.98" l, .75 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

From Amazon.com
The long-awaited sequel to Golf in the Kingdom takes Murphy back to Scotland in search of another encounter with the mystically enchanting Shivas Irons, a man--if that's indeed what he is--who's part golf professional, part shaman, completely wise, and thoroughly fascinating. Filled with myth, mysticism, metaphysics, advanced string theory (courtesy of fellow searcher and friend, physicist Buck Hannigan), and at times other-worldly golf sequences from Scotland, to Russia, to a climactic round at Pebble Beach, Kingdom resolves its quest in the most unlikely and hard-to-find place of all. "Keep coming," Irons implores his seeker. "Imagine. Practice. Start again. I'm not so far away." Indeed, more than fairways that glow in the dark and drives that can fly 450 yards, it's Irons's ultimate whereabouts that infuses Kingdom with its magic and its mystery.

From Library Journal
Twenty-five years ago, Michael Murphy described a mystical round of golf he played in 1956 at Burningbush?a fictitious golf course in Scotland?with an enigmatic Scottish golf-pro named Shivas Irons in Golf in the Kingdom (LJ 7/72), a tale that includes hidden interpretations of the game and penetrating insights regarding life in general. In this sequel, Murphy journeys back to Scotland in 1987 to find Irons and the answers he thinks the Scotsman may have regarding golf and the "life to come." In Scotland, he meets Buck Hannigan, a mathematician engaged in the study of hyperspace who is also looking for Irons, and Hannigan's girlfriend, a beautiful Russian expatriate and necromancer who convinces Murphy to call on the mystic forces of old Russia to help him with his search. New Age themes abound along with an absorbing mix of parapsychology and spiritualism. Although some may feel Murphy's latest effort is somewhat like a cross between Brigadoon and Caddy Shack, considering the avid interest in golf and the paranormal, public libraries can expect demand.
-?Peter Ward, Lindenhurst Memorial Lib., N.Y.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
This book, fiction disguised as memoir, has something for everybodyÐmind fodder for the credulous, high satire for the skeptical, palliative for golfers, Scots travelogue for armchair travelers. Echoing Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and the bestselling hoaxes of Carlos Castaneda, Michael Murphy seeks nirvana on the golf courses of Scotland. His quest involves a hodgepodge of Eastern mysticism, ersatz Platonic philosophy, spiritualism, white magic, hauntings and ESP. Oh, yes! Golf, too! Murphy admits poking a little fun at duffers, but his mind-expanding passages seem to send-up the whole Esalen human growth potential movement, which he helped found. Is he trying to be funny? Narrator John Hannah takes him at face value. He plays it straightÐand adeptlyÐin authentic Scottish tones, giving us all the drama and epiphany of Murphy's striving while letting the humor, intentional or otherwise, fall where it may. Y.R. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine