Golf Ball

161 Pages·2015·1.069 MB·English

by  Harry Brown

A book series about the hidden lives of ordinary things.
Series Editors:
Ian Bogost and Christopher Schaberg
Advisory Board:
Sara Ahmed, Jane Bennett, Johanna Drucker, Raiford Guins,
Graham Harman, renée hoogland, Pam Houston, Eileen
Joy, Douglas Kahn, Daniel Miller, Esther Milne, Timothy
Morton, Nigel Thrift, Kathleen Stewart, Rob Walker,
Michele White.
In association with
BOOKS IN THE SERIES
Driver’s License by Meredith Castile
Remote Control by Caetlin Benson-Allott
Drone by Adam Rothstein
Hotel by Joanna Walsh (forthcoming)
Refrigerator by Jonathan Rees (forthcoming)
Shipping Container by Craig Martin (forthcoming)
Silence by John Biguenet (forthcoming)
Phone Booth by Ariana Kelly (forthcoming)
Glass by John Garrison (forthcoming)
Waste by Brian Thill (forthcoming)
Tree by Matthew Battles (forthcoming)
Hair by Scott Lowe (forthcoming)
Dust by Michael Marder (forthcoming)
Doorknob by Thomas Mical (forthcoming)
Blanket by Kara Thompson (forthcoming)
golf ball
Harry Brown
Bloomsbury Academic
An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Inc
NEW YORK • LONDON • NEW DELHI • SYDNEY
Bloomsbury Academic
An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Inc
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NY 10018 WC1B 3DP
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www.bloomsbury.com
BLOOMSBURY and the Diana logo are trademarks
of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
First published 2015
© Harry Brown, 2015
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be repro duced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval
system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers.
No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting
on or refraining from action as a result of the material in this
publication can be accepted by Bloomsbury or the author.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Brown, Harry J. (Harry John), 1972-
Golf ball/Harry Brown.
pages cm
Summary: “Golf balls embody the complex human relation to the natural
world, a will to control nature, but the action of balls in play reveals the
futility of the endeavor”– Provided by publisher.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-62892-138-0 (paperback) – ISBN 978-1-62892-139-7 (hardback)
1. Golf balls–History. I. Title.
GV976.B76 2015
796.352–dc23
2014031367
ISBN: PB: 978-1-6289-2138-0
ePDF: 978-1-6289-2141-0
ePub: 978-1-6289-2140-3
Series: Object Lessons
Typeset by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
For my dad and my brother

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments x
PART ONE OUT: THING
1
1 How I cut a golf ball in half, and found a lot
of things inside 3
2 How the golf ball keeps holy the
Lord’s day 10
3 How an empire made the golf ball, and the
golf ball made an empire 18
4 How the golf ball blew up America and
made golf more fun 25
5 How the golf ball went ballistic 36
6 How the golf ball reached détente 41
7 How the court decided custody of the
golf ball 49
8 How the golf ball became the #1 ball in
golf 55
9 How the golf ball got so cool 62
PART TWO IN: PHENOMENON
69
10 How the golf ball vanishes before
your eyes 71
11 How the golf ball makes us feel fulfilled,
for a millisecond 76
12 How to control the unruly golf ball 81
13 How to hit the golf ball by not hitting it 89
14 How the golf ball looks into the abyss,
and the abyss looks back 94
15 How the golf ball won the Golden
Fleece 100
16 How the golf ball went to the moon 105
viii CONTENTS
17 How the golf ball makes friends with
animals 112
18 How the golf ball prepares for
doomsday 119
Notes 129
Index 141
CONTENTS ix