Book Alert: The Thinking Fan's Guide To The World Cup
All the facts are here - a summary of the last World Cup and a précis of the situation as we enter this one. The wonderful thing about this book, however, is the excellent attempt to enter the psyche of every one of the 32 nations which has qualified this year. Editors Matt Weiland (from Cambridge literary magazine Granta) and Sean Wilsey (from publishing house McSweeney's) have put together some truly interesting pieces which read like a travelogue of distant lands and minds which are somehow familiar while remaining distinct.
In this hefty volume you will find out what it means to be Iranian, ponder the universality of the Serbian/Montenegrin experience, learn to swear in Italian, buy shirts in Togo, eat crocodile in Paraguay, examine nations where football is still a minority sport (Australia, the USA), and find out what surfing off Madeira has to do with Portugal. Not all the pieces are equally satisfying, and some contain little about football itself. Yet, there will be many little bits – cameos and gems – which you will find thought-provoking.
The compiled national statistics at the back make interesting (and often sobering) reading. The United States has more prisoners per capita than any of the other countries, leading the Ukraine by 715 to 416 per 100,000 people. The life expectancy in Angola is 37 years, less than half that of Japan (#1 at 81 years). It's inversely proportional to the share allocated to military (some call it 'defence') spending - Angola spends 10.6% of GDP while Japan spends 1.0%. Other correlations, mostly linked to wealth and peace, abound.
The final section is entitled How To Win The World Cup. It's a bravura sociopolitical analysis deftly and cunningly tucked in - social democracies beat military juntas, which beat fascist states, which beat communist states, for example. Exceptions are examined, the correlation is rationalised. Lines like 'never invest hope in oil-producing nations' ring true too, but in the end, one fact remains beyond argument: billions of people of all kinds will watch 32 squads abide by 17 rules governing 22 players and a ball for one month. Food for thought, indeed.
In this hefty volume you will find out what it means to be Iranian, ponder the universality of the Serbian/Montenegrin experience, learn to swear in Italian, buy shirts in Togo, eat crocodile in Paraguay, examine nations where football is still a minority sport (Australia, the USA), and find out what surfing off Madeira has to do with Portugal. Not all the pieces are equally satisfying, and some contain little about football itself. Yet, there will be many little bits – cameos and gems – which you will find thought-provoking.
The compiled national statistics at the back make interesting (and often sobering) reading. The United States has more prisoners per capita than any of the other countries, leading the Ukraine by 715 to 416 per 100,000 people. The life expectancy in Angola is 37 years, less than half that of Japan (#1 at 81 years). It's inversely proportional to the share allocated to military (some call it 'defence') spending - Angola spends 10.6% of GDP while Japan spends 1.0%. Other correlations, mostly linked to wealth and peace, abound.
The final section is entitled How To Win The World Cup. It's a bravura sociopolitical analysis deftly and cunningly tucked in - social democracies beat military juntas, which beat fascist states, which beat communist states, for example. Exceptions are examined, the correlation is rationalised. Lines like 'never invest hope in oil-producing nations' ring true too, but in the end, one fact remains beyond argument: billions of people of all kinds will watch 32 squads abide by 17 rules governing 22 players and a ball for one month. Food for thought, indeed.
etched with acid at 1:25:00 pm
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