This book was unbelievably tiresome.

I've read Hornby's fiction in the past with enjoyment, so I was expecting something better out of him here. I expected ties to class and race and politics and how fandom is a thing, sociologically. I expected some kind of real growth or enlightenment on the part of the fan writing. I expected, especially given Hornby's fiction, a moment that works like a plot high point, wherein he realizes that soccer is not and should not trump everything and everyone else in his life.

Instead, I was treated to an anal cataloging of what felt like every fucking soccer game he's ever attended, plus barrels of apologetic pseudo-self-awareness. This is that guy who, because he KNOWS he's an asshole, and he ADMITS that he's an asshole, considers himself excused for being an asshole. Spending time in this man's company is not enjoyable, and I don't know what's wrong with the legions of five-starrers here, but I suspect that they aren't that great either.

I could say more, about his glosses over things like hooliganism, stadium deaths, racist chants, neo-nazi fans, but it's just not worth it. Suffice it to say that he thinks his own fandom more important than all these things, no matter what he says. I'm not sure that this experience won't ruin his other books for me.

I picked this up because I am a fan of Nick Hornby's fiction (and because, OK, I have seen the movie version), but admittedly many of the British football references went over my head -- both because they are from the 70s and 80s, and because they pertain to a sport that I know very little about. The book, which is part autobiography, is also a sort of an examination of the way an intense fandom can impact a person's life (schooling, relationships, priorities, etc). As would be expected, the writing is great and the author is appropriately self-mocking, given the topic. But I think I would have enjoyed it more if I cared more about the primary topic (namely, Arsenal in the 70s and 80s).

[removes the chapter with fan gatekeeping/classic futbol sexism] there.....yes perfect

I have to admit, at times I forced myself to stop reading and find something else to do just to make this book last longer. So clearly shaped, roughly sculpted yet without a single wrinkly angle - a creation of an indisputable master and probably the best book to come out of football obsession or any other obsession at all.

'Fever Pitch' by Nick Hornby isn't just a memoir - it's a part love-story, part hate-story & part never-ending obsession. This book probably explains almost all the reasons why you started supporting a football club. Even if it inflicted upon you a lot of pain at times.

Loved how Hornby tends to remember important past incidents in his life through the dates of the games Arsenal played around the same time. Believe me, I liked this book immensely. But will I regard it as a classic of football lit? Probably not. Nonetheless, it's a great read.

'Fever Pitch' is for Gooners to treasure & others to revere. Every football fan will rediscover himself by reading this. Highly recommended.

So, little bit of a football fan. But not in Nick Hornby's division.

There's not a lot out there that captures what it means to support a club. The agony. Followed by the disappointment. Followed by the pain. With the occasional moment of ineffable joy at the little flick sending a defender the wrong way. Hornby gets this. Was he wrong to ignore the prone body of his collapsed girlfriend and continue cheering the lads?

Absolutely not.

Because the team needed him. And this is what he explains in a memoir that captures a lifetime of football. The bizarre, masochistic, symbiotic (perhaps parasitic) relationship between a supporter and his club.

Too bad he supports the wrong one.

Also on Twitter and Tumblr

It was almost too perfect that I chose to read Nick Hornby’s wonderful and engrossing football fan memoir Fever Pitch during World Cup month. Of course, it’s more than a football book, but I was really drawn to his frank admission of the very depths of his football obesession at the same time that the World Cup was reminding me how much fun and how intense it is to watch real top flight soccer.

The writing is great. I can’t say much more about that. His good rep is well-deserved and I feel that I’ve been properly introduced and can go one to one day read High Fidelity, About a Boy, and all the rest. So on to the content.

It’s hard not to admire, and perhaps envy a little bit, Hornby’s obsession with football. I can think of nothing that I have been so devoted to for even close to the length of time chronicled and I’m only a few years younger than he was at the writing of the book. To be able to count on one hand the number of games missed in the relevant lifetime is more admirable than lamentable. However, the book fairly recognizes the difficulty of cultivating such a devotion anew in this day and age.

Further, Hornby’s perspective and description of soccer tragedies and the almost inappropriate way the game just goes on are so well put.

A last bit of curiosity is the fact that for most of the book, the Arsenal Hornby describes is hardly the Arsenal I know. The Arsenal I know is one of the consistently good teams. They were entering this era toward the tail end of the book, in the early 90s, right before I would have started paying attention, but they had been so dismal, so good enough to avoid relegation, but not good enough to threaten to win almost anything for most of his recollection. I find it interesting and ironic how much the club’s success has mirrored his own. In an afterword, he does have some thoughts on the subject on how football has changed since the book.

For someone who's only background on football are a handful of Azkal games and pictures of hot shirtless football players my friends try to entice me with, I honestly loved this book.

Nick Hornby tends to get too technical with his descriptions (and maybe, as a responsible reader, I should've at least tried to look up(/ask my friends about) the terms? but I'm lazy af) but that didn't take away from the experience. I'm honestly glad I made the executive decision to pace myself while reading it instead of rushing my way through it, because I would've probably skimmed through everything and missed the fandom experience. The book's depiction of fandom resonates so well to me even if I don't give a fck about Arsenal/football. I recognized myself in Hornby liking loyalty to a wart you're stuck with (hello problematic faves), his regression, his treatment of football as a crutch, etc. (just replace "football" with Niall Horan. lolJK I'm actually cooler than this, but I did enjoy the fact that one of Arsenal's greatest is named Niall lol)

Having said that, I wish I was equipped with at least a basic knowledge of how football actually works, or how clubs work in the UK before reading this because that definitely would've added to the whole experience. But I'm definitely going to walk away with appreciation for Arsenal and football culture in general, deeper than my casual love for hot football players.

Fever Pitch is a tribute to football and Arsenal in all their glory, warts and all, but Nick's love (obsession??) for the game and ~journey~ with football is something anyone can relate to, whatever their fandom may be.

3.5 stars

What to know: This is a book of short (generally 1.5 to 3 page) essays spanning the period from 1968 to 1992. The paperback version with an afterward from 2012 is 246 pages. As a general rule I highly recommend finding the version with the most recent afterward/epilogue, in many cases it can be transformative. I wouldn't say that about this book but it does make for a nice update here.

Best audience: Football fans, especially Arsenal supporters. I'm American and have never played or seen a soccer game in my life so many of the names and terms went right past me but I still enjoyed the book for the writing style and relatable themes.

The short essays: Makes the book very easy to pick up and put down when you only have a few free minutes here and there. The problem for me is that I started and took a six week break before picking it back up again. And I'm a big fan of short passages.

Is it just about football?: Not entirely but it mostly is. It's 100% about the Arsenal club. While each essay has a football/Arsenal theme Hornby weaves it with other topics such as relationships of varying kinds; superstition; careers; hooliganism; family life; and others to broaden its appeal. It generally worked for me. Otherwise it would have been way too much of a niche subject.

Familiar?: I loved "The IT Crowd" and this book kept reminding me of episode 2 from season 3 (Are We Not Men?) about Moss & Roy's clumsy attempts to appear manly by faking interest in football. I think they pretend talked about Arsenal and kept using the word "ludicrous" to describe certain aspects of the previous night's match. "Ludicrous" kept popping up in the later essays in Fever Pitch.

Odd word placement: Why do the good people of England put the word "done" at the end of sentences? The author did it countless times. ("I should have done.") It's not just him, I've heard it in the many British crime dramas I've watched. It's puzzling to me.

Set up a as memoir, this is lifelong Arsenal (big UK soccer team based in London) fan Nick Hornby's recollection of his life so far, mostly through his lifetime obsession of supporting, following and loving Arsenal Football Club. What begins as a pretty interesting by maybe niche (on a global reading scale?) look at being a big supporter of an English premier club slowly (and purposefully) evolves into the nature of male obsession?

Hornby is frank and honest in this surprisingly insightful read and doesn't veer away from talking about football violence, racism, gender divides, Hillsborough and more. An absolute must-read for Arsenal fans, but also an informative read for other readers for an honest male lens look at the intensity and nature of, men and their material obsessions? 8 out of 12.

2022 read

No ranking because I'm not interested enough to form an opinion (though, if I had to, it would be 1,5 stars) - I mean that pretty much sums it up for me. But I'll just add a few things in case you're still, by some miracle, thinking of reading this book. Don't :) So I'm big on the "don't judge a book by its cover" thing, but...this one was written by a bald white man...and...it shows. Also, there's literally no plot since it's an autobiography. It basically only talks about football except for small intermissions every 70 pages where the author reflects on his misery (as he should). It was required reading but I finished it today because I just couldn't bear seeing it every day on my goodreads. Well, "reading", depends what you consider reading. Did a big amount of skimming as I simply cba to read about a substantial number of footie games that Arsenal lost 50 years go. My English teacher insisted that if we had an obsession we would be able to relate to Hornby. Uhm. Well, not exactly, no. Only thing Arsenal and 1D have in common is the fact that they're white British men. That's pretty much it. So yeah, not exactly relatable. Maybe Louis (Tomlinson) would like it but I doubt he's got such bad taste (no offence). Glad to be done with this one. Omw to bin it xxx

I am not a football fan, and had to skip over many of Hornby's descriptions of so-and-so using this foot to score the second goal in that game which was part of that one season. But the fact that Hornby felt compelled to include these details, and that he had them stored away in his brain, is part of the story.

Fever Pitch does an excellent job of describing what it means for Hornby to be an obsessed fan. He does not take the long view, he is not detached, and his analysis comes in bits and chunks between descriptions of particular plays. He's a gifted writer, but he's also obsessed with football. Seriously. Obsessed.

So if we as readers can take the long view, and be detached, then we are able to piece together the story of Hornby's development from a 12-year old whose parents are divorcing to a thirty-something who would rather miss a friend's wedding than miss a home game. It's a fascinating story, but we have to be willing to enter the crazy with him a bit, and go along for the ride.

I didn't learn anything about football, but I learned a lot about fandom and obsession.