Book – Fever Pitch
By Nick Hornby

With my faith in Nick Hornby’s writing reinstated, I finally decided to read his first book Fever Pitch. This has been on my list of “Books I need to read one day” for quite some time now, so I was quite pleased to make a start on it. You may well notice that it has been some time since I last wrote about a book. This is not because I found this book uninteresting – let’s just say that the Contiki tour didn’t really lend itself to reading very much at all…

Fever Pitch is a memoir of how the author’s life has revolved around his obsession with football (The UK version that we call soccer) and his team, Arsenal. His recall of facts and figures from specific matches throughout his life is truly terrifying – this is definitely a man obsessed with the game. His writing style is conversational and very readable and his wry observations on the effect football has on his life are very entertaining. He is often self-deprecating and fully acknowledges how pathetic this obsession must seem to anyone that does not share it (including his friends – he is very realistic about how they feel when they have to accommodate his obsession when planning weddings and important events).

As much as I enjoyed the humour and fun of this book, it is his deeper reflections about the nature of people, particularly men, that I found most interesting. Hornby’s reflections on tragedies at football matches, such as Hillsborough, are very poignant and moving – especially his realizations that “they were people at a football match just like me” or “I could have been among the so-called hooligan group”. (Sedaris and Burroughs take note – it is possible to transform this anecdotal style of writing into a deeper reflection of the human condition).

Once again, I was not disappointed in Hornby’s writing – an enjoyable read that also touched me on a deeper level. Now I just need to work up the courage to revisit “A Long Way Down”…