Doubleday $19.95, 224 pp
Recently Bill Murray released his golf book (his first and only book, for that matter) Cinderella Story. In the dedication he tells readers, "I didn't wish to write a book. It seemed any idiot could do it, and everyone does." But he did write the thing, or at least most of it with help from Golf magazine's Editor-in-Chief George Peper, and his interest in golf appears to have been enough of a pleasurable distraction to pull him through the process of putting pen to paper--although the uneven results reflect his declared reluctance.
Partly, this is to his credit. Bill Murray has never been one to talk about himself--even just a tad by celebrity standards--since to enter any realm of serious self-reflection would disarm the compulsive irreverence and warm insincerity that is his charm. And also his own brand of integrity, which maybe he's loosened his grip on a bit.
Discussing his philosophical approach to the sport he writes, "I actually relax when I see a so-difficult shot that requires Shakti visualization. I prefer it. To me, the scariest words in all of golf are, 'It's a straight putt.'" Well, the not-so-great news is that Cinderella Story is very straight putt. And Murray knows it.
The pretty-good news is that he's having enough fun for me to remind everyone how much fun it can be to witness Bill Murray having fun. If a loosely-organized collection of golf anecdotes is the closest you will come to getting this artist to expound on himself then it's worth it to pull a stool up to the bar and just listen between the lines.
Coming from a family of eight boys and one sister who became a nun, Bill Murray earned enough money as a caddy during summers at the Evanston Community Golf Course to pay his own way through the Loyola Academy, a Jesuit high school. These days, he is a millionaire, an international movie star, and a fixture on the world's finest golf courses where he is known to clown it up with top pros and fellow celebs. But it is clear from reading Cinderella Story that Bill Murray will always view himself as a caddy who has managed to sneak his way onto the links.
Back at the caddy shack, which would become immortalized on screen in that wonderful movie his older brother Brian co-wrote, "we learned to curse, smoke, and play cards for money behind the night green," Murray recalls. "The rest of the time, we made a living."
He also soaked up the golf course culture and made observations that would eventually lead to some terrific comic characterizations. Carl Spackler, the benevolent if brain-damaged greenskeeper in Caddyshack, is perhaps Murray's most beloved role, and Cinderella Story goes into highest gear when discussing this character's creation. Maybe we shouldn't be surprised that the famous scene with Carl whacking flowers like he's teeing off ("Cinderella story outta nowhere. Former greenskeeper and now about to become the Masters champion...") was an improv captured in one take.
But like caddying, being funny ran in the family. In one of the book's many sidebar contributions from friends and associates, Gorden Ewen, former President of the Western Golf Association tells the story of old Wallace Patterson. As young caddies, the Murray boys would help Mr. Wallace, who was just about blind, keep track of his shots. One day while in their care, the venerable gentleman shot his first hole in one. The club gave him a big trophy. Then he shot another. And another. "Eventually," Ewen concludes, "the club caught on and told Bill and his brothers to knock it off."
