Joining the Club Richard ] . Moss, t h e J oh n ] . a n d Cornelia V G i bson P rofessor o f
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H istory, once heard a h istorian l i st the things w e know noth ing about. The American country club was number five. " I t seemed very odd that there were thousands of clubs and no one had ever written about them, " said Moss, a golfer, country club member and former cadd i e . In Golf and the American Country Club M o s s sets o u t t o d iscover how
country clubs and the game of go l f took root i n America . AJ though the earliest counu-y clubs were devoted to horse-related
Empire Falls
E M P I R E FILLS
Richard Russo P'04 Alfred A. Knopf (200 I ) I n h i s fifth novel, R u sso, former professor
R I C H I R D
of creative writing at C o l by, e x p l o res l i fe
R U S S O
in a down-at-the-heels M a i n e m i l l town. As is the case with h i s earlier nove l s , notably
activities, by the m id - 1 890s the relatively inexpensive sport of golf was
Nobody's Fool, this book l ives because of
the dominant force behi nd the creation of new clubs. I ni tially clubs
Russo's sympathy and respect for people for
were i nformal groups of friends playing golf in pastures and orchards.
whom t h i ngs never go qu ite right. I n Empire
From 1 890 to Worl d War I, though, upper- and middle-class Americans
Falls, c h a racters l ive with failed m a rriages,
increasingly adopted golf, and country clubs became draped in "instant" history and prestige. Discretionary time a11d income increased in the 1 92 0s, and many people adopted new values that justified leisure and pleasure. This "golden age" saw the growth and improvement of courses and expansion of the counu-y club's role and facilities. M oss was amazed by the rapid rise of clubs through 1 9 3 0 and thei r decl i n e from 1 9 3 0 t o 2 00 0 . "In t h e 1 92 0s i t looked l i ke the counu-y
d i m i n i shed expectations, dreams for friends and fam i ly that seem less and less l i kely to come true . In R u sso's deft prose they are a lways left with their d ignity intact. The Nation 's Tortured Body: Violence, Representation, and the Formation of a Sikh "Diaspora"
Brian K. Axel '89
was going to be covered with clubs, " said Moss. " People once rea l l y
Duke U n iversity Press (20 0 1 )
l i ked the idea of u s i n g private voluntary associations t o g e t things
Axel uses ethnogra phic a n d archival research conducted i n India, England
done. Now they rely on the government and corporations to provi de
and the Un ited States to explore the formation of a Sikh diaspora. The
things like golf and social l i fe . "
text focuses on violence i n the tra n snational fight for Khal istan (an
Golf and the American Count1y Club covers a raJ1ge o f history and topics: from the introduction of the term "golf widow" i n the 1 890s and television coverage in the 1 9 50s to social class issues, discrimination
i ndependent Sikh state), colonialism and postcolonial conditions, and i mages of Sikhs around the world. It is the h i story of displacement, Axel argues, that has created the concept of homelands.
against women and m inorities, the caddie's role and the i ntroduction of
Night Crossing
the golf cart. ("The golf cart i s an abomination," writes Moss.)
Don J. Snyder '72
Moss's com mentary a lso touches on the professionals responsible
Alfred A. Knopf (200 1 )
for gol f's changing cha racter-Arnold Pal mer, Tom \Natson, who
I n h i s newest novel Snyder takes on Northern
resigned from his c l ub i n 1 990 because of discrimination, and, of
I re l a n d 's political turmo i l by te l l i n g the story
course, Tiger Woods.
of the 1998 I RA bombing of the s m a l l city of
\/Vhi l e current country clubs are at oddly different junctu res-some have i mmense prestige while the institution is clearly in decl i ne-golf
Omagh. The suspenseful story i ntegrates real C R O S S I N G
gets bigger every day. The sport and i ts code of principles have a place
holding her 3-year-old da ughter's ha nd-with the
i n modern American society, Moss concludes. "That this code became entangled w i th excl usive, aristocratic practices and principles i s a
victims-a s l a i n mother pregnant with twins and main characters, including
a
British inte l l igence
captain who sees only one way to end the violence and struggles with
great tragedy," he writes. " B u t that should not give us reason to
his decision. When a n American woman litera l ly wa l ks into the center
condemn the game a n d those clubs that truly support i ts values."
of the events of the bombing, she cannot leave the city until she is
-Alicia Nemiccolo MacLeay '97
changed. U lti mately, the reader, l i ke Night Crossing's characters, must question whether the ends always justify the means. The Notorious Astrological Physician of London: Works and Days of Simon Forman
Barbara Howard Traister '65 U n iversity of Chicago Press (200 1 ) Q u a c k , c o nj u re r, s e x f i e n d , m u rd e re r- 1 6 t h - c e n t u r y u n l i ce n sed phys i c i a n , astrologer and magician Si mon Forman has been cal led all of these thi ngs and worse. Tra ister exa m i nes Forma n , who was i m p l i c a ted after death in the p o i s o n i ng s c a n d a l of S i r T h o m a s Overbury, through h i s medical records a n d m a n u scripts, w h i c h were never i ntended for p u b l i c a t i o n . Fo r m a n d i sc l o s e s eccentric a nd exotic personal deta i l s a m id mundane deta i l s of London life. Ranging from the stench of a privy to the para lyzed l i m b s of a c h i l d , the Golf and the American Country Club
Richard J. Moss ( h i story)
works cover astrology, alchemy, gard e n i ng, giants, theater, creation and more.
U n i ve rs ity of I l l inois Press (20 0 1 )
c
0 L B y
.
s u M MER
200 1
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