{"product_id":"the-amateurs-a-novel-isbn-9780061875892","title":"The Amateurs: A Novel","description":"\u003cp\u003e“Brilliant.” \u003cbr\u003e—\u003cem\u003eGQ\u003c\/em\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Hilarious.” \u003cbr\u003e— \u003cem\u003eThe Times\u003c\/em\u003e (London) \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A novel about golf that is not only hilarious, but gripping, sexy, violent, and outrageous. . . . Niven combines his increasingly bizarre plots, and some shocking behavior, with considerable skill and, of course, large helpings of humor.” \u003cbr\u003e— \u003cem\u003eThe Mirror\u003c\/em\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom \u003cem\u003eKill Your Friends\u003c\/em\u003e author John Niven, \u003cem\u003eThe Amateurs\u003c\/em\u003e is a side-splitting and whip-smart examination of golf, infidelity, and how little white balls make some men insane.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003eGary Irvine's wife refuses to sleep with him, so he pursues an even stingier mistress: \u003cem\u003egolf\u003c\/em\u003e. But despite his spending unconscionable amounts of time and money, his game is wretched. Until the day he takes a perfect swing . . . and then everything goes black.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter waking up from a coma a few weeks later, with a golf-ball-sized dent in his temple, Gary discovers that his last perfect swing has been imprinted on his brain. However, his newfound prowess is accompanied by some troubling side effects, most noticeably Tourette's.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs Gary miraculously advances to the final round of the British Open, his delinquent brother, Lee, stumbles from one botched drug deal to another, his orbit drawing ever nearer to the terrifying local crime lord Ranta Campbell. With their lives on the line, Gary and Lee must rediscover the ties that bind to survive a blood-soaked final round.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003e“\u003ci\u003eThe Amateurs\u003c\/i\u003e shouldn’t work yet Niven is a master storyteller who switches between humour and violence with disconcerting ease.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eShortlist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“This tale of Gary Irvine, a hopeless golfer who, after an accident, becomes a phenomenal player, is peppered with brilliant moments.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eGQ\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Brilliantly funny....That it is hugely entertaining is not a surprise but the fact that I lost hours reading about golf courses, and actually cared, is this month’s most winning pleasure.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWord magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A raucous, filthy novel of golf.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWaterstone's Books Quarterly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“You don’t have to love golf to thoroughly enjoy this rollicking and at times howlingly funny HarperPerennial novel about the game. Niven packs his propulsive tale-about a duffer who becomes a world-beater after getting beaned by an errant drive-with gangsters, sex, violence, and pitchperfect, hilariously filthy, Scottish-accented dialogue. He also sneaks in some bona fide insights about family, and gratifying plotlines of revenge, romance, and friendship.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePenthouse\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“You don’t have to love golf to thoroughly enjoy this rollicking and at times howlingly funny novel about the game.....[Niven] also sneaks in some bona fide insights about family, and gratifying plotlines of revenge, romance, and friendship.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePenthouse\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“\u003ci\u003eThe Amateurs\u003c\/i\u003e is a comedic piece of lad-lit filled with golf and gangsters . . . the author of \u003ci\u003eKill Your Friends\u003c\/i\u003e proves that one’s second novel can be just as humorous as the first.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eScottish Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Niven’s novel is both a touching depiction of sporting addiction and a screamingly funny tale, of golfers and gangsters in the west of Scotland.  Niven, who hails from Ayrshire, is blessed with the same ear for deconstructing the patois of the west of Scotland which made Rikki Fulton and Stanley Baxter such side-splitting comedians. While the profanity and foul-mouthed dialogue here almost make Irvine Welsh resemble a writer of religious tracts, beneath the rough surface of effing and blinding lies a surprisingly sweet story of family, friendship, and romance. . . . Unlike the amateurs in his plot, Niven’s prose is executed with the comic timing of a pro. He gets the golf right, and just about everything else too.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eScotsman\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A novel about golf that is not only hilarious, but gripping, sexy, violent, and outrageous. . . . Niven combines his increasingly bizarre plots, and some shocking behaviour, with considerable skill and, of course, large helpings of humor.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Mirror\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Believe it or not, this novel makes golf look interesting.  Trust me. This is a writer who could wring laughs out of pretty well anything. . . . Hilarious.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Times (London)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Harper Perennial","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44887936598245,"sku":"NP9780061875892","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780061875892.jpg?v=1730227778","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/the-amateurs-a-novel-isbn-9780061875892","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}