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| Book Reviews |
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| email: tbell4@connect.carleton.ca . ph: 613-889-7739 . ottawa, ontario, canada |
I was excited to find this book under the Christmas tree after picking it up so many times at various book stores - surprisingly each time my ounce of frugal ity kept me from purchasing it. My brother kindly wrote inside the front cover: "I can't think of anyone as well placed as you to critique or endorse Foer's book", and i must admit that this is a book that I've wanted to write. As a result, I expected it to be thoroughly critical of it. In fact, many aspects exceeded my expectations. The stories for each chapter are written in a readable manner and are well researched. Each attempts to explain the interrelationship between soccer and politics (politics can be interchanged here, and many places, with globalization, corruption or crime). The chapter titles follow in pattern with the book's title, claiming to answer "How Soccer Explains the Gangster's Paradise", "How Soccer Explains the New Oligarchs" and so on. Although I don't believe any of Foer's stories, in themselves, explain complex global issues such as "the Jewish Question" (if one can define what he means by this), using soccer as a lense to analyze such topics provides an enlightening and refreshing perspective on what can be dry and depressing issues. Foer intertwines some of his own perceptions of globalization and its effects on international soccer's clubs, players and fans, and although I found myself in agreement with many of his assessments, I believe it would have been mor interesting to incorporate some international political theory into his explanations (without giving away the ideas for my book away) as opposed to solely his personal views. For the mostpart, Foer also sticks to telling his story by way of the major clubs of the world. As his book is written for part-time (American) soccer fans, this is an under- standable starting point; however, the most interesting aspect of soccer is its global reach. Consequently, I found the most interesting chapter in How Soccer Explains the World to be the story of how Edward Anyemkyegh, a Nigerian striker, ends up playing for a small Ukrainian club called Karpaty Lviv. The culture - and physical - shock of moving from a small Nigerian community to a Ukrainian town to train in temperatures of -25 degrees and fight for a starting position in hopes of being noticed by a bigger club in Europe shows both the opportunities and difficulties that globalization can bring. Stories like this really tell the human side to globalization and how changes in communications and transportation as well as the end of the Cold War have affected followers of the 'beautiful game'. At many times Foer's efforts to write explicitly for an American audience were overbearing (particularly the final chapter about soccer's culture war in the USA), but this was balanced by backgrounders to each chapter that, if left out, would have allowed only the most serious soccer fans to enjoy his work. How Soccer Explains the World is an enjoyable read and anyone who has a novice interest in soccer and will find the stories interesting and readable. Foer writes on international issues in a manner that is reflective of the complexities and dilemmas of soccer and politics. |
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| Book Review: How Soccer Explains the World by Franklin Foer HarperCollins (2005) |