I guess Peter's book is the best example of what is the difference between "fun" and "funny". Is this book funny? Not reallOy, Crouchie! You did well!
I guess Peter's book is the best example of what is the difference between "fun" and "funny". Is this book funny? Not really - well, maybe just a bit. Is it fun (to read)? Definitely. What I liked most about this book, is that instead of usual type of sports biographies - you know, "I've been there, done that, played there, won that", blah blah blah - Crouch dives much more into a social perspective of being a football player. Instead of a simple linear story, each and every chapter of this book takes one aspect of professional football and develops it. And most of those aspects are not so very common to hear about - like cars, hair, or headed goals.
You might think, what's so special about cars? Nothing. But they way Peter tells his stories, with lots and lots of insider info and jokes and stories about something as simple as players' cars, you can't help but feel amused.
Of course, there were some better chapters and some worse, but probably that's the most negative thing I can say about it. "How to be a Footballer" is not the most serious book about football, nor the most historical, or the most accurate. Probably it is not even the most funny one. But as I've already said - it is FUN. And if you're looking just for a light read about the King of the Sports, that's it. You found it.
To wrap it up, I want to post a short quote from the chapter about players' tattoos. This quote probably encapsulates this whole book in just a couple of sentences.
Player: John Carew Tattoo: ‘Ma Vie, Mes Régles’. Verdict: I think the big former Villa striker wanted to make a simple point: ‘My life, my rules’. Unfortunately, he got the accent wrong on the final word. It should have read ‘règles’. So instead it translates as ‘My life, my menstruation’. On his neck! Only in football. Only in football could this happen....more
Traveling for a full year around Italy in a bus, full of calcio ultras, rooting for a small, provincial team in order to write a book about it does noTraveling for a full year around Italy in a bus, full of calcio ultras, rooting for a small, provincial team in order to write a book about it does not sound like a terrific idea. But that what Tim Parks did. And the result is quite impressive. It would have been even more impressive had I read this book no later than a couple of years after it was published, as it seemed a bit outdated at moments now, almost a full 20 years later. Still, being outdated also meant that it had been a very nice throwback, remembering names and places that have been a bit forgotten.
The first thing you have to know, is that it is not a football book. Not ENTIRELLY a football book, to make myself more clear. As the title suggests, it is also "in search of illusion and national character". And it's not bad if you're into Italy as a country and a culture as well as calcio. But if you want a pure football book, I'd recommend you a book by John Foot, called "Calcio: a history of Italian football", as it is an ultimate recollection of everything that makes Italian football unique - it is purely about football, players, coaches, tactics, referees - you name it. Tim Parks' book is much more about a nation, about people and about a culture that gives birth to ultras and national mentality as a whole. He spends some 30, maybe even 40 pages writing about Marsiglia case - a case that has almost absolutely nothing to do with football. Why did the author do it? Probably to illustrate Veronese mentality, as well as all-Italian character as well.
Being a fan of Hellas Verona, a provincial team that spent most of it's recent (50 years) history swinging between Serie A and Serie B, Tim Parks has a lot of passion for a team he supports and he shows it in this book. Also, probably due to the same aforementioned passion, you may be certain there won't be much objectivity, especially regarding the big teams. YouTube enables us to check almost every moment, every match, every episode he wrote about. And usually - not to his favor. "Nuno Gomes had been blatantly offside!", he writes. "Once more the referee robbed us in favour of the big guns!" he exclaims. And so you check that match on YouTube, aaaaand.. It's not an offside.
And, of course, Juventus. The author here is definitely not too proud to be fashionably anti-Juve. He even managed to badmouth Del Piero, also calling him "finished" in the process. Yes, the "Same" Del Piero, who never said or did anything wrong in his whole career, who had been an Italian sweetheart and who had received a standing ovation in the notorious Santiago Bernabeu. Would it have been too hard to support his team without blaming everyone and everything, especially those mysterious "them"? Sure, but I guess that would not have been an Italian way. So, all in all, probably Mr. Parks had eventually found Goals, Illusion and national character of this wonderful country.
Read it, it even might serve as a very peculiar guidebook. And it can teach you poems, too: Vicentino maledetto, hai mangiatto il mio micetto". LOL.
If you consider yourself a fan of The Azzurri, this book is a must. It's like a football fan's holy bible - it starts when there was no Italian[image]
If you consider yourself a fan of The Azzurri, this book is a must. It's like a football fan's holy bible - it starts when there was no Italian football, it oversees the creation, the evolution, the rise of a beautiful game, and, as football is bordering religion in Italy, no wonder I compared this book to a bible.
The extent this book covers is simply amazing. You can name anything related to Italian football, and you will find it described here: referees, scandals club presidents, outstanding matches, clubs, fans and even a few commentators who became household names - simply put, everything. I learned a lot.
The book itself is divided into 15 chapters, every chapter is designated for a big theme, and sub-chapters elaborate further, thus ensuring every theme is presented from all possible points of view. Because of being so detail, the author sometimes repeats himself from time to time, but never it is copy-paste of his earlier musings; even when describing the events he already described two or three times, he still manages to make them seem fresh and essential to the story.
There were a few minor shortcomings, and though non of them are too serious, it would be fair to mention them. First, and most bizarre of them all, is constantly sorting players into handsome and ugly. Well, I might be a poor judge on male sex appeal, but in my humble opinion, neither Luigi Riva, described as being an particularly good example of looking good, neither Salvatore Schillaci, whom the author called "somewhat ugly", do not deserve these words. I've added pictures of them both to judge for yourselves. And in the end, why should a player's physical appearance matter when I am reading a history book? :)
[image] Luigi Riva
[image] Salvatore Schillaci
Second shortcoming is seemingly never criticizing referees, even when they are blatantly incompetent or even consciously unfair (Byron Moreno case). I mean, yeah, refs might make mistakes, but if one was very poor, it's no big deal to write about it.
Finally, some facts I came upon sound a bit dubious. For egzample, this statement: "Zinedine Zidane was usually a fair player" - wait wait wait, are we speaking about The Zinedine Zidane? French guy of Algerian descent with a bald head, who played in midfield and got sent of twelve or thirteen times in his career, and usually for stamping, spitting, headbutting and other violent behavior? Well now, in that case I dread to think who would be considered "unfair" or "dirty" player then.
Despite those few sliiiiight drawbacks, it is a really well done, comprehensive book on Calcio, and I can only repeat myself - if you're a fan, it's a must.
Oh, and by the way, some people in their reviews described this book as anti-Juve. As a lifelong Juve supporter and a fan I feel entitled to assert that these accusations are BS. It's not anti or pro, it is as neutral as it can be.
"Playing for pizza" is quite a strange book. Despite being written by Grisham, one of my favorite writers, it is so unlike his typical books, that I c"Playing for pizza" is quite a strange book. Despite being written by Grisham, one of my favorite writers, it is so unlike his typical books, that I could have guessed it was written by, I dunno, Jodi Picoult or someone else, had I not known who actually wrote it.
Now this book's also strange because it has no plot. Basically it's sort of a simplified diary of Rick's life in Italy, or, more like an account of what did he eat, where did he eat, what did he drink, where did he drink, what cafe, bar, trattoria or restaurant he visited, what landmarks did he see, and, occasionally, how did turn out a football match he played in.
And you know what? I enjoyed it. It was quite a page-turner for me. Of course it's a short read, and had it been longer, most likely it would have bored me finally, but being as long as it is - just a 7-8 hours read, I had lots of fun. And why wouldn't I? It's a book about Italy, good food, beer, football and even a couple of cute dolls. What more could a man want? (Yes, that's actually sexist and chauvinist and perfectly legit for the last three+ hours - welcome to Orange World!)
As I said, it's a quick read and most certainly not the most intellectual book you've ever seen, but it's quite good and odds-on you'll enjoy it, especially if you read it as a break from "normal" literature. ...more
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