World Is a Ball: The Joy, Madness, and Meaning of Soccer - Softcover

Doyle, John

3.85

354 ratings by Goodreads

9781605291468: World Is a Ball: The Joy, Madness, and Meaning of Soccer

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1605291463 ISBN 13: 9781605291468

Publisher: Rodale Pr, 2010

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Title: The World Is a Ball( The Joy Madness and Meaning of Soccer) <>Binding: Paperback <>Author: JohnDoyle <>Publisher: RodalePress

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Review:

"A witty and honest hymn to soccer, this book is also a meditation on fandom, television, international travel and national identity as mediated through sport. John Doyle registers in vivid prose the strange blend of genius, attrition and downright cheating that is modern football." -- Declan Kiberd "International football tournaments are extraordinary things: sporting rituals, commercial bonanzas, international TV events and popular carnivals. In The World is a Ball, John Doyle is our laconic, sharp eyed guide to the circus. This a football travelogue alert to the complex identities, and emotions that international football evokes, and tuned to the political and social meanings that emerge from success and failure, but never makes them hard going. Playful, humane, observant, Doyle delights in his fellow human beings capacity to conjure pleasure and purpose from football. There's nothing quite like being there, but if you can't The World is a Ball will give you an irresistible taste that will make you want to be there next time, and a learned eye with which to take it in and enjoy it." -- David Goldblatt, author of The Ball Is Round: A Global History of Soccer

About the Author:

JOHN DOYLE is a regular contributor to the New York Times soccer blog and has been a popular cultural critic for the Globe and Mail, Canada's leading newspaper, for more than a decade.

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