Clayton Dunham, Author Of The Popular Crosses: A Christian Executive And Unadulterated Love, Examines This Very Idea In His Latest And Most Thought-Provoking Work Yet: Eighteen Wholes: He Found Life And God Through A Game, Published By Outskirts Press
For decades, golf has been described as the quintessential microcosm of life. The potency of this claim was supported by one of the world's greatest players, Tiger Woods, in an interview on the Oprah show, where he shared his belief that the lessons of golf are useful for producing a quality life and noble character. In Eighteen Wholes, Clayton Dunham provides a dramatic examination of this golf truism through artful juxtapositions of life's trials and tribulations and the quest for human perfection to applicable golfing principles.
Wilmington, North Carolina (PRWEB) June 18, 2007 -- Clayton Dunham, author of the popular Crosses: A Christian Executive and Unadulterated Love, examines this very idea in his latest and most thought-provoking work yet: Eighteen Wholes: He Found Life and God Through a Game, published by Outskirts Press.
For decades, golf has been described as the quintessential microcosm of life. The potency of this claim was supported by one of the world's greatest players, Tiger Woods, in an interview on the Oprah show, where he shared his belief that the lessons of golf are useful for producing a quality life and noble character. In Eighteen Wholes, Clayton Dunham provides a dramatic examination of this golf truism through artful juxtapositions of life's trials and tribulations and the quest for human perfection to applicable golfing principles.
"Human perfection is generally thought to mean reaching a state of flawless spirit, character, and behaviors," Dunham says. "We pursue perfection with zeal and realistic hope, yet it eludes us continually, and casts us into despair because we are unable to overtake it. But maybe our search for perfection is a booby-trapped illusion, a ghost, a dream, a frothy ideal with no real taste. Maybe human perfection, as we have understood it, is not perfection at all. In fact, I would suggest it is the presence of flaws that creates the perfection of being. Perfection may better be defined as a being acting consistent with its nature and destiny. Human beings are born flawed, and those flaws are, in fact, instrumental gearing in the human machinery, and structural framing for the beauty of being. "
How does this relate to golf?
"The beauty of golf," Dunham says, "is that you know you will never play perfectly, but you can always play better."
Viewed in this light, we are left buoyant and energized by a goal that is within reach, achievable, and health-producing.
Through an exhilarating story of romance, mystery, tragedy, and competition on the links, Dunham manages to draw on golfing principles in a powerful way, examining many of the mysteries of life and effective principles for dealing with marriage, infidelity, trust, corporate politics, and human fallibility, urging us to use our inherent flaws as steppingstones to a higher state of awareness and harmony with holiness. In Dunham's hands, competitions on lush fairways become a link to vivid insights into the meaning of life and the search for God.
About the Author
Clayton Dunham is a MBA and Ph.D. in business and a well-respected health care executive and technologist. He is a sought-after speaker, writer, and thought leader in the field of information technology and management science. His early writing credits include numerous technical and professional journals, but it is for his fiction that he is best known. Dunham's stories, poems, and essays search the deep underpinnings of life, love, and God. His previous novels, Crosses: A Christian Executive and Unadulterated Love, Examining Affairs of the Heart and Platonic Relationships, are available from Outskirts Press. Visit Clayton Dunham on the Web at http://www.claytondunhambooks.com to learn more about the author and his upcoming projects.
Eighteen Wholes: He Found Life and God Through a Game by Clayton Dunham, Ph.D
ISBN-10: 1-4327-0478-8 / ISBN-13: 978-1-4327-0478-0
5.5 x 8.5 paperback / 456 pages
US $16.95 / CAN $20.95
Availability: Baker & Taylor, Ingram, Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com
Outskirts Press, Inc.
Jeanine Sampson
888.672.6657 ext. 704
www.outskirtspress.com
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