Modern Classics Fever Pitch

As a soccer fan, I've frequently seen this title listed in the pantheon of great soccer books. It is a book on soccer only if you are all-consumed with the Premiership. What the book is really about is being a fan -- in the truest sense that "fan" is short for "fanatic". Hornby has an easy writing style and most importantly, has remarkable emotional intelligence. His analysis of his own fanatacism is what makes the book so special. The story has applicability for other sports (as evidenced by it being appropriated within a Red Sox context for the big screen). Unfortunately for me, I was not a fan of the English game or Arsenal during the period that Hornby catalogs in such excruciating detail, so many of the people, places, and moments are alien to me. I still got a lot of laughs and enjoyment out of the book. Worth a read, especially if someone you care about has ever told you that the love that you show for your team is out of control.

Clearly the main audience for this are serious football (i.e., soccer) fans wherever they are, but as this is a self-conscious exploration of the writer's devotion to Arsenal FC, it would also be of interest to those who wonder what motivates an obsessive and what that experience is like, for just as clearly, Nick Hornby is obsessed with Arsenal, a term he freely uses to describe his addiction (my term). The chronological structure of the book is fitting since Hornby's obsession has gone on for half a century (presuming the connection that began in 1968, when the writer was just eleven, and lasted through the book's publication in 1992, has continued through 2018). As he says in the opening line, "I fell in love with football as I was later to fall in love with women: suddenly, inexplicably, uncritically, giving no thought to the pain or disruption it would bring with it," an apt remark since despite nearly 250 pages of always engaging, often amusing and sometimes sparkling prose, I felt no nearer to understanding why Arsenal has so fascinated this talented writer to the point of absorption. The "pain and disruption" he refers to are amply described later, yet I didn't believe I knew why, given such awareness, he accepted it. Comparisons to drug addiction come to mind (alcohol, heroin, cocaine), yet one associates those with deeper psychological wounds or weaknesses and sees the recourse to those drugs as forms of escape or avoidance. And while Hornby is aware of how football dominated his life then, and descriptively frank about it, I still don't know what drew him to it in the first place. His parents' divorce happens in the beginning of the book, and while he refers numerous times to it, he doesn't see it as a surrogate for a lost father-son relationship, particularly since he and his father maintain a cordial relationship over the years, which includes his father's second wife and his step-brother. Given the relative lack of discussion of his relationship with his father, it is tempting, in a cheaply psychologizing way, to presume that the root of his obsession has at least one large root there, but that's all one can do, presume. Another possible source of obsession might be a young boy's dreams of athletic glory or a deep appreciation of the physical demands and artistic beauty of the game. American football fans who dismiss football-soccer as "a bunch of guys running aimlessly around kicking a ball" have no idea of the physical and mental difficulty. Yet aside from a few remarks about his own five-a-side games with friends and the huge gulf between even good small team athletes and Premier League players, Hornby also does not dwell on either his aesthetic appreciation or his own daydreams of on-field glory.So why does he love this game, and Arsenal, to the point of recalling scores, players, and actions on the field and in the stands from dozens of games spanning over two decades, especially when Arsenal so rarely was good enough to "win it all," and so often failed in championship games? The only answer I got was simply that - love - and who can ever explain that. What Hornby does is describe this love affair, its recurrent agonies and intermittent ecstasies, with candor and wit. He also reflects insightfully on the hooliganism that has continued to plague English football since the late 70s. So if you want to know why so much of Britain, as well as the rest of the world, still loves this game, I can't say that this book will give you a clear answer. It will, however, engage your interest from first page to last, and that is no small achievement.

If you like football, this book is just great; Nick Hornby is describing all the emotions a football fan can go through, with a lot of detail and from first-hand experience.If you are also an Arsenal fan, the book is a must-read, but also fans of other clubs will likely enjoy (maybe not Spurs fans, though :-))

Good purchase

Iconic book for all football fans

Every person who loves the beautiful game must buy this one, or atleast borrow it from a friend. It shows how every game, every win/loss, every season shapes a fan's personality and character. Also, how it affects the people around you, when the game affects you so much on a very deeper level compared to any friendships or romantic relationships. I am still reading it, bit by bit. It is good, it is honest, it is spontaneous. It is also about Arsenal FC, not my club though, but an excellent history lesson on English Football just before the rise of the English Premier League.

Per gli amanti del calcio "vecchie maniere" . Veramente un bel libro semplice. scorrevole da leggere tutti di un fiato.