DANNY
MO
Danny Moran had always tackled the challenges of suburban family
life, running a business and participating in competitive amateur
golf with enough good cheer to rate himself "top-five world-wide" at
many a domestic task (leaf-blowing, charcoal-pyramiding,
opening stubborn jar lids, spackling with either hand,
etc.)
But when these day-to-day routines unravel into a far more
sobering reality, everything he once took for granted gets turned
upside down -- and puts some of his most fiercely-held convictions
to the test.
After taking three years off
from golf to deal with the escalating turmoil in his life, the
49-year-old Danny Mo returns to his hometown to make what is
expected to be a ceremonial appearance in the only state
championship he had never won, and attempts something in the final
round that no one -- not Tiger, nor Jack nor Arnie in their prime --
could even think of pulling off.
What takes place stuns the Door County locals and becomes
both national news and a rumor-laden public fascination.
It isn’t until the final hole of the tournament that his son
(and caddie for the event), Maurice “Mo” Moran, discovers how messy
his dad's life has become – for which he believes he is partly to
blame. But it’s
the rest of the mess that scares Mo even more.
Readers
will laugh, nod along and possibly shed tears -- whether they play
golf or not -- as they peel back the various layers of contemporary
domestic realism in DANNY MO.
Family, health, work, and a passion for sports and
competition are precariously balanced against elements of faith,
regret, mortality and infinite possibility in a familiar world that
becomes harder to recognize as the challenges mount.
Yet through all the personal and competitive ups and downs
and zigzagging progress, hope remains and redemption beckons -- for
both Danny and Mo Moran.
"I
can tell you in all honesty, Danny Mo might be the
best novel about golf ever written. I've read quite
a few and nothing compares."
Gary D'Amato, golf writer for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
since 1992, a three-time winner in the Golf Writers Association of
America
writing
contest, and author of four books, and 2007 Wisconsin Sports Writer
of the Year.
"Danny Mo is a unique book. It will create its own literary
genre. It’s
a sports book, combined with
mystery, comedy, family dynamics and a bit of Oprah thrown in. I loved
John’s literary trick of
using real-life sportswriters from Sports Illustrated and the Milwaukee
Journal-Sentinel to do
articles on the events that unfold at the end."
Diane Fallon, Director of Communications - Chicago Private
Schools.
"Without question, Danny Mo is the finest piece of golf fiction
ever written.
The story of Danny Mo is that powerful."
Lee Kazmarek, Golf Professional, Muskego Lakes C.C. and Past
President of the Wisconsin High School Golf Coaches Association.
"While this is a book about a beloved amateur golfer and the game,
it's about so much more. The Moran family is a rock on which the story
is built. Reading the book, you get to know Danny's family and friends...
and you laugh (hard, at times) with them, and shed tears when they
suffer. John has created a family so real that when I finished reading, I missed them. Danny and Mo make a powerful father/son
story; and yet, the strongest characters in the book are the Moran
women. In their own way, each of them show how life can never be taken
for granted -- they are indeed the foundation upon the rock."
Holly Pendleton, Senior Editor, Covance Global Pharmacology and
owner of Hollygrafix Consulting.
Notable writers contribute to DANNY MO
DANNY MO
includes stories specifically written for this book from
prominent sportswriters, columnists and authors who address
Danny Mo’s actions at The Majesty. They are: Gary Van Sickle,
senior golf writer for Sports Illustrated; Gary
D’Amato, author of four books and an award winning golf
writer for The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; Mike
Nichols, a featured columnist at The Journal Sentinel
and the author of suspense novel, The Waking (Harper/Collins:
ISBN 0-6-277133-7); and Drew Olson, former Milwaukee
Brewers beat writer/past president of the Baseball Writers
of America, as well as current senior editor at
OnMilwaukee.com and host of The D List on Milwaukee’s
ESPN Radio.
