{"product_id":"the-battle-for-augusta-national-alan-shipnuck-9780743255011","title":"The Battle for Augusta National: Hootie, Martha, and the Masters of the Universe","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe controversy began with a seemingly innocuous private letter, and spiraled into the biggest media event in golf history.\u003c\/b\u003e The Augusta National membership dispute dominated headlines and watercooler conversation for nearly a year, propelled by twenty-first-century hot-button issues and a pair of perfectly drawn foils in Hootie Johnson and Martha Burk. But a year after Burk's messy Masters week protest, the meaning of the membership controversy remains elusive. In \u003ci\u003eThe Battle for Augusta National, \u003c\/i\u003e Alan Shipnuck -- who reinvented the PGA Tour narrative with the rollicking \u003ci\u003eBud, Sweat, \u0026amp; Tees\u003c\/i\u003e -- provides the definitive account of what really happened and why. \u003cbr\u003e In this lively, irreverent, ambitious book, Shipnuck chases the story from the chairman's office at Augusta National to the living room of the One Man Klan, along the way bringing to life a vivid cast of characters and revealing subplots aplenty. With meticulous reporting and penetrating insights, Shipnuck provides a nuanced look into the complex and contradictory worlds of Hootie and Martha, who were drawn together like moths to a flame; reveals Augusta National's secret plots to undermine the press and the accompanying turmoil at \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times, \u003c\/i\u003e including an exclusive interview with the Times's disgraced executive editor, Howell Raines; and explores the Southern politics that led to Burk's Masters week banishment, drawing on Senate confirmation hearings and campaign contribution documents to link local politicians and a federal judge to Augusta National. \u003cbr\u003e From Tiger Woods to Jack Welch, Sandra Day O'Connor to Bryant Gumbel, Treasury Secretary Snow to Jesse Jackson, the gang's all here in this withering look at a story that never stopped churning. \u003cbr\u003e Along the way, many of the membership controversy's mysteries are revealed. How did Augusta National's top-secret membership roll become public? Who was the shadowy protester identified by hoodwinked reporters as Heywood Jablome? Did Burk lie about a vast right-wing conspiracy to undermine her demonstration? All of this and much more can be found in \u003ci\u003eThe Battle for Augusta National, \u003c\/i\u003e a book that captures the passion and absurdity of a great national debate that continues to simm\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Alan Shipnuck\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0743255011\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780743255011\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Simon \u0026amp; Schuster\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/27\/2007\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 368\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.98lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.92d","brand":"Alan Shipnuck","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44054787227903,"sku":"9780743255011","price":23.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_494981f9-5fc9-4771-9956-26d114d2e82b.jpg?v=1685031991","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-battle-for-augusta-national-alan-shipnuck-9780743255011","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}