David Winner
Author of Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football
About the Author
David Winner is a freelance journalist who splits his time between London and Rome. He is the author of Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Soccer, also published by Overlook.
Image credit: via Bloomsbury Publishing
Works by David Winner
Desmond Tutu : the courageous and eloquent Archbishop struggling against apartheid in South Africa (1989) — Author — 42 copies, 1 review
Raoul Wallenberg : the Swedish diplomat who saved 100,000 Jews from the Nazi Holocaust before mysteriously disappearing (1989) 39 copies, 2 reviews
Peter Benenson : taking a stand against injustice--Amnesty International (1991) — Author — 20 copies
Hard Gras / 71 2 copies
The Atlas of Experience 1 copy
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Winner, David
- Birthdate
- 1956-12-05
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- England
UK - Country (for map)
- UK
- Places of residence
- Kilburn, London, England, UK
Rome, Italy - Occupations
- author
journalist
Members
Reviews
A magnificent piece of writing exploring the history of Dutch football.
ESPN had it right when they said on the back cover of Brilliant Orange, "you like soccer, you don't like soccer, it doesn't matter." It's true. Hate, indifference, like or love. No matter which way, this is an enjoyable read. Winner definitely knows his material and isn't dry in his delivery. He could write about the science of flies on fly paper and I would probably browse it. Be prepared to learn a lot about soccer/football. Be pleasantly surprised by everything else you learn. Among other things, Winner compares soccer to ballet in its artistry. He makes comparisons to politics. He sees similarities with architecture, society, humanity.… (more)
A great piece on how Dutch football directly relates to Dutch culture. Tells the story of Dutch football through the good and bad times and reveals how a number of 'Orange' players have influenced culture as much as they were influenced by coinciding cultural events. It is a tale of how important football is to the Dutch, not just because it is a game of delightful sights and outcomes (which it is), but because it is tied to life in the deepest of social perspectives.
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Statistics
- Works
- 20
- Also by
- 1
- Members
- 653
- Popularity
- #38,652
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 16
- ISBNs
- 52
- Languages
- 8
- Favorited
- 1
Fans of Patricia Highsmith and her literary creature “Talented” Tom Ripley will recognize this as an homage of sorts. A metafictional duet between a semi-closeted author and the semi-closeted character she’s made her career on—refereed with icy detachment by Winner’s narrator—Tyler’s Last is a literary thriller that hits on both counts.
Tyler (not his real name) is a semi-retired bad guy who’s spent his life defrauding people (and much, much worse; up to and including a string of murders). His toney wife having left him (maybe for good) to gallivant across North Africa with her girlfriend, Tyler is already reeling emotionally when he receives a series of ominous phone calls that send him winging off for New York.
Part of Tyler’s mission is a secret known only to his criminal sensei, Delauney, the rest is Tyler’s daring (read, insane) plan to impersonate his first murder victim, the long-dead Cal Thornton, whom Tyler’s mysterious caller claims to be. Once in New York, events take a Nabokovian turn, a series of violent episodes, Tyler’s growing black-comic sense of detachment (from his actions and his reality), and an impromptu trip with an emotionally volatile teen recalling the sort of erudition and (almost) innocent evil of Lolita’s Humbert Humbert.
Juxtaposed with Tyler’s narrative, Winner tells the tale of Tyler’s creator, the Highsmith-esque surly “old woman”, making it quite clear that the old woman’s refracted view of her own life has a habit of materializing on the page, sometimes consciously, sometimes not. This convention dominates the book from a literary standpoint, ensuring that readers not only experience the excitement of Tyler’s unraveling criminal lifestyle (a lifestyle his author ultimately seeks to emulate) but the author’s love for her character, the fact that in many ways he is her, a literary fact that will be in some ways proven, some ways contradicted, as the story unfolds.
http://www.thenervousbreakdown.com/kbaumeister/2016/06/the-nervous-breakdowns-re...… (more)