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Liked It “Hornby is laugh out loud funny, and as this chronicles one of his passions, namely Arsenal FC, there are many delicious moments to be had here. I found myself nodding in sympathy at certain passages as I've scheduled vacations around certain matches. Forget the movie which doesn't even take on...” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“Hornby is laugh out loud funny, and as this chronicles one of his passions, namely Arsenal FC, there are many delicious moments to be had here. I found myself nodding in sympathy at certain passages as I've scheduled vacations around certain matches. Forget the movie which doesn't even take on the right sport!”
Cathy C wrote this review Wednesday, November 25 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“A witty tale from a soccer obsessed writer. Hornby is great. This book will make you laugh.”
Alex J. Mann wrote this review Saturday, October 31 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I don't know much about soccer, let alone English professional soccer. But I do know about being a sports fan, and it is amazing to see what translates from culture to culture. Hornby is a master of chronicling the obsessed!”
Kind wrote this review Wednesday, September 30 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“One of my favourites. If you're a Gooner you would love this book. He perfectly describes the obsession of being a fan. ”
jamm wrote this review Tuesday, September 8 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
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Andrew Hughes-Onslow wrote this review Tuesday, August 4 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Fever Pitch is both an autobiography and a footballing bible rolled into one. Nick Hornby pinpoints 1968 as his formative year--the year he turned 11, the year his parents separated, and the year his father first took him to watch Arsenal play. The author quickly moved "way beyond fandom" into an extreme obsession that has dominated his life, loves, and relationships. His father had initially hoped that Saturday afternoon matches would draw the two closer together, but instead Hornby became completely besotted with the game at the expense of any conversation: "Football may have provided us with a new medium through which we could communicate, but that was not to say that we used it, or what we chose to say was necessarily positive." Girlfriends also played second fiddle to one ball and 11 men. He fantasises that even if a girlfriend "went into labour at an impossible moment" he would not be able to help out until after the final whistle. Fever Pitch is not a typical memoir--there are no chapters, just a series of match reports falling into three time frames (childhood, young adulthood, manhood). While watching the May 2, 1972, Reading v Arsenal match, it became embarrassingly obvious to the then 15-year-old that his white, suburban, middle-class roots made him a wimp with no sense of identity: "Yorkshire men, Lancastrians, Scots, the Irish, blacks, the rich, the poor, even Americans and Australians have something they can sit in pubs and bars and weep about." But a boy from Maidenhead could only dream of coming from a place with "its own tube station and West Indian cojavascript:{}mmunity and terrible, insoluble social problems." Fever Pitch reveals the very special intricacies of British football, which readers new to the game will find astonishing, and which Hornby presents with remarkable humour and honesty--the "unique" chants sung at matches, the cold rain- soaked terraces, giant cans of warm beer, the trains known as football specials carrying fans to and from matches in prison-like conditions, bottles smashing on the tracks, thousands of police officers waiting in anticipation for the cargo of hooligans. The sport and one team in particular have crept into every aspect of Hornby's life--making him see the world through Arsenal-tinted spectacles.”“A fun romp into the foray of the soccer world.
Matt A wrote this review Friday, July 31 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
If I wasn't a fan of A) Nick Hornby and B) Football (the rest of the world kind) I would've found this incredibly dull. Fortunately for me I am both and relished the chance to get an "insider's look" into the heart of a true fan.”
“While this book can be interpreted as a person's life long obsession and how this obsession manifests itself, for the people out there who are Gooners, we understand the brilliance of this book. This is a book about the relationship between the author and Arsenal FC. Written in a way that documents just how many matches Hornby has been to and his constant thoughts about the club, matches and the meaning of football in his life, this is a great book for those who support the Arsenal. One of my greatest memories from the book is what if you had a son who grew up supporting Sp*rs? I couldn't stop laughing when I read it.
Kaz Hope wrote this review Wednesday, July 22 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
People who might not follow English football might not be interested in the personal history Hornby has put into this book. Others might like it because Hornby is a good writer. If you support the Arsenal and often think about matches, I sometimes think about the goals Henry scored against Inter Milan in the Champions League a few years ago, then this book is for you.”“It's a great book, but because it's about THAT season, I don't like it. And yes, I am a Liverpool fan. :)”
John A wrote this review Thursday, July 16 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“A very fun novel that follows Hornby's life and how his favourite English Premier League football (soccer) club - Arsenal - has played a major role throughout the events in his life, and how being a fanatic of the team has been a major influence upon him.”
J m wrote this review Sunday, July 12 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
