Ten Top Sports Books

The sport reading journey has been going unofficially for some years and these are the best of the back list. Presented in chronological order of reading.

Fever Pitch – Nick Hornby

An account of growing up as an Arsenal fan in the 1970s and 80s. Perceptive, funny and bitter sweet with coming of age episodes recalled through inevitable links to his obsessive (at this time) support of his favourite club.

French Revolutions – Tim Moore

One bike enthusiast’s hilarious account of his attempt to ride the Tour de France course.

3 Nights in August – Buzz Bissenger

This uses the St Louis Cardinals v Chicago Cubs three game series in August 2003 as a backdrop to delve into major league baseball. The back stories of the players and staff alternate with the tension, tactics and action on the field.

Moneyball – Michael Lewis

The account of Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane’s iconoclastic attempt to apply statistical analysis, more at home in business and finance, to bring success to a major league baseball franchise; buying players undervalued by traditional ‘experts’, proving their worth, and selling them on at a profit.

The Damned Utd – David Peace

Told as if by Brian Clough, expletives not deleted, this gives an explosive account of his 44 days in charge of Leeds United in the autumn of 1974. Alongside we have his reflection on his career up to then, particularly his success at Derby County and his fruitful if fraught partnership with assistant Peter Taylor.

Friday Night Lights – HG (Buzz) Bissenger

In 1988 the author spent a year immersed in the Texas town of Odessa following the fortunes of the high school (American) football team, Permian Panthers. He discovers a passion for the game that both exacerbates and transcends differences in race and class, and puts tremendous pressures on the young men who carry the hopes of the town as well as their own college sporting ambitions.

All Played Out – Pete Davies

An extraordinary account of the 1990 ‘Italia’ world cup finals. Having blagged press accreditation and associated access, the author gives a fan’s insight to the competition and the England set up under the now legendary manager Bobby Robson.

The Bodyline Controversy – Laurence de Quesne

An in-depth exposition of the preliminaries, the events and the echoing repercussions of the notorious 1932-33 Ashes test series in Australia when England came with a new tactic to subdue the previously irrepressible batting of Don Bradman. With a 50 year perspective and a scholarly approach, this is an authoritative account covering the personalities, the politics and the sport with an even handed detachment.

A Very British Coop – Mark Collings

An outsider’s look from the inside at the arcane world of pigeon racing, from the back streets of Oldham to the glamour of South Africa’s Sun City. Strangely fascinating mix of working class culture, obsessive behaviour and the lure of high stakes.

The Blind Side – Michael Lewis

An examination of the system of discovering, developing and grooming talented high school athletes to become NFL superstars. Written around the story of Michael Oher, a black kid with no home to speak of but with an abundance of physical attributes and natural ability. He is spotted and taken in by a rich white family to enable him to join their local high school team and progress through college to the NFL. Inspiring or disturbing by turns, but always fascinating.

Headlong – Michael Frayn

When Martin Clay decamps himself with his wife and baby to their country cottage for the summer his expectation is for peace and tranquillity in which to finish his book on 15^th century Netherlandish Art. What he gets is an unexpected invite from the Lord of the (impoverished) Manor to dinner, where first his advice, and then his assistance, is sought to “shift” some art.

Initially reluctant and sceptical, Martin’s interest grows when he realises one of the “makeweight” pieces could possibly be much more valuable than the monstrosity he is engaged to sell on. Is this an opportunity to make his name and his fortune?

As a philosopher by trade, Martin is well placed to articulate and indeed navigate the moral maze created by his potential lucrative liberation of the masterpiece and complicated by the flattering if un-looked for attentions of the attractive and vulnerable Lady of the Manor.

There are considerable risks involved in his scheme and meticulous research is needed to validate the find. So we learn more than we ever thought we would need to know about Peter Bruegal, the Netherlands (of which there were 17) and their repression by the Spanish in the 16^th century. But this is provided in bite size portions interspersed within the on-going, headlong rush of events that progressively slip out of Martin’s control.

Frayn is a good writer, articulate and well able to make the art-history both interesting and authentic. He also has a talent for both ironic humour and farce which keep the pages merrily turning. So much so that it is only after finishing the book that his other talent, for subtly connecting themes (in this case by baler twine), seeps satisfyingly into your consciousness.

To sum up – art, history, crime, love, humour, but above all morality; what’s not to like?

The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of a Window and Disappeared – Jonas Jonasson

The man in question is Allan Karlsson who decides at the start of the novel to avoid his centenary celebrations by climbing out of his care home window and heading for the bus station. This starts an unlikely, even bizarre, sequence of largely criminal events during which he acquires a large suitcase of cash and an entourage of fellow oddballs.

In pursuit is DCI Goran Aronsson with the unenviable task of forming a hypothesis from the senseless clues left in Karlsson’s wake. Is the old man a kidnap victim or leader of a ruthless criminal gang?

As the centenarian’s unfolding adventure is related, so too is his past. This reveals a disproportionate number of Forest Gump-like interventions in world events throughout the twentieth century.

So it is fun, wacky or silly depending on your sense of humour. I found the current day story more engaging than the back history, which soon lost its capacity to surprise and provided only patchy humour and clunky satire.

The writing style (at least in translation from the Swedish) is very conversational, producing a one-dimensional narrative that tells the story but takes no pleasure in the telling.

I got through to the end without really caring whether DCI Aronsson brings the gang to book or how Karlsson would be involved in freeing Nelson Mandela, bringing down the Berlin wall or capturing Bin Laden (surprisingly none of these).

As a mild diversion, not needing much concentration, it would do the job passing time on a long haul flight or a daily commute.

A Walk Along The Wall – Hunter Davies

Published in 1974 this is an account of the author’s leisurely journey along the course of Hadrian’s Wall from Wallsend to Bowness-on-Solway. Done over several trips in the course of a year, the book covers the wall and adjacent sites of interest but as a travelogue rather than a guide book.

In his progress east to west, as well as relating his hiking experience, he brings together information on the Roman wall and forts; the history of its exploration; and its effect on those who live and work alongside.

The ancient history is sensibly packaged in easily digestible portions with references to more scholarly sources for those who want to learn more. Similarly, the accounts of those who previously recorded their journeys along the wall (particularly that of William Hutton in 1801), are interestingly woven in to illustrate what has changed, or not, over the years.

However it is his meetings (by chance or by appointment) with the varied folk of the Wall that gives the book its distinctiveness and appeal.

After nearly two thousand years the Wall continues to impact on local people’s lives. For the farmer and other landowners it is an occupational hazard; for the archaeologist and stone mason it is a life’s work; for hotels, pubs and guesthouses it is a business opportunity. Davies reports all views and tries to be non-judgemental but it is clear where his sympathies lie - that such a monument deserves the protection it is afforded.

Being half way through my own walk along the wall I found the book stimulating, although inevitably dated. However this did serve to show how much has happened to develop the tourism potential of the wall in the last 40 years. (A more modern 2008 edition of the book does have a preface to provide an update).

I like Hunter Davies as a writer, and find his choices of subject interesting. Although this book does not have the focus of his excellent biographies of George Stephenson and A Wainwright it still provides an enjoyable read.

Anna of the Five Towns – Arnold Bennett

The five towns are, as ever with Bennett, the Potteries; Anna is Anna Tellwright and this novel takes us through her eventful 22^nd year.

Until now her well-ordered life consisted keeping house for her widowed father Ephraim, minding her younger half-sister Agnes, and attending the local Wesleyan Chapel. Not too taxing but pretty dull due to the miserly and dominating nature of her father.

But now, on her 21^st birthday she comes into her own fortune, left in her mother’s will and tended by Ephraim until she came of age. Further there is a man on the scene: respectable, handsome, self-made Henry Mynors who is paying her attention that she is unused to.

Suddenly she is exposed to the unfamiliar worlds of business and romance, where her decisions and actions will have far-reaching consequences. Can she use her new financial independence to break free of Ephraim’s psychological bullying? Does she love Henry Mynors or is he just a way out that would only replace parental domination with marital subservience? What are her true feelings for young Willie Price whose father owes her money but who stirs her protective instincts?

Because it is Bennett the reading is easy and the characters and location are authentic. It’s also small town drama. But Bennett’s other small town dramas have more to them: the Clayhanger trilogy has emotional depth, passion and pathos and The Old Wives’ Tale is full of sharpness and wit.

Anna Tellwright’s 22^nd year may have been eventful for her but, when the highlight is a fortnight in the Isle of Man, it’s clearly more thought-provoking than pulse-racing.

Die Trying – Lee Child

This is the second of the series of books featuring all-action hero Jack Reacher. The ex US Military Policeman combines the thinking power of Sherlock Holmes, the combat skills of James Bond, and the reclusiveness of Dr Richard Kimble; all wrapped up in the physique of Hulk Hogan. You can see why Tom Cruise wanted the movie part, but not why he got it.

This time Reacher is in the wrong place at the wrong time as the female stranger on the sidewalk he is chivalrously helping is about to be abducted. The kidnappers take him as well. How unlucky is that – not for Reacher but for the bad guys who now have a tiger by the tail.

The plot unfolds – this is no ordinary victim and the motive is initially obscure. The purpose of the snatch slowly reveals itself and the action ebbs and flows. Periods of frenetic activity, when Reacher dishes out the muscle and the bullets, are separated by interludes of reflection as he analyses the problem and plans his strategy.

The love interest is there – Reacher’s a sucker for a plucky heroine – but he’s also a gent so it is all rather restrained and in very good taste.

Lee Child’s writing is packed with detail, apparently spurious but indicative of how Reacher’s mind works; as such it does not detract from the prose which is quick and easy to read. The plot, and Reacher’s capabilities, may have plausibility issues, but the whole book moves smoothly forward at a pace that leaves no time to dwell.

Just sit back (or forward on the edge of your seat), read and enjoy.

The Stranger’s Child – Alan Hollinghurst

Hollinghurst’s booker short-listed novel is made up from five self-contained episodes, each covering just a few days set at points throughout the twentieth century, connected through a family history and a literary heritage.

We start before the First World War at home with the Sawle family – sixteen year old Daphne, her mother and two older brothers George and Hubert. George’s chum from Cambridge, Cecil Valance, is coming to stay. He is a budding poet, heir to the Corley Court estate, and all round smooth operator who hits on Daphne as an aside to his preferred appetite, currently being satisfied by George.

Twenty years on we find Daphne is Lady Valance, having married not Cecil (who died a War Poet) but younger brother Dudley. They have a son Wilfred and daughter Corinna. This weekend gathering is in honour of the dead poet, now immortalised in white marble over his tomb in the family chapel. But Daphne’s highlight of the weekend is a knee trembler in the linen cupboard with (hitherto gay) painter Revel Ralph; son Wilfred’s highlight is an encounter with a (largely irrelevant) corpse.

Re-emerging in the sixties we pick up the story through young gay bank clerk Paul Bryant, whose brief encounter with the family brings us up to date. His boss is married to Corinna, her mother Daphne (keep up) is now the thrice married Mrs Jacobs, and we meet Jenny Ralph (Daphne’s granddaughter via Revel Ralph from the linen cupboard). More interestingly Paul also meets Peter Rowe who teaches at the school that now occupies the ancestral home of Corley Court. They become chums through their shared sexuality and interest in the life and works of good old Cecil Valance.

We fast forward 12 years or so and Paul Bryant is now working on his planned Cecil Valance biography. He’s tracked down Daphne (now 80-odd) and Dudley and he’s doing his best to dig up the dirt, trying to ‘out’ Cecil as a homosexual, and call into question several paternities.

Finally in 2008 we experience through Rob (bookseller, and you guessed it, gay) the memorial for the recently deceased Peter Rowe. He finds himself next to Jenny Ralph who recounts and updates the family history. Also present is Paul Bryant, now a celebrated biographer, with his civil partner Bobby.

So what was it all about? The snapshots throughout the century show changes in society, particularly the lot of the gay man. It gives an interesting picture of generational change and of genealogy. And it may provide some insight into how literary research is conducted.

For me none of this compensates for the lack of drama, tension, humour or tragedy. The best feature of the book was the cost – only 20p to download on Kindle. I wonder why?

[For a more balanced view and more knowledgeable insight into the book see the reviews on Amazon which are spread uniformly over the 5 star ratings]