Name: Fever Pitch
Rating: 3.677777777777778 (45 reviews)

Nick HORNBY

A Fan's Life

Fever Pitch

Nick Hornby

The Twentieth Anniversary EditionAs a young boy, growing up in London and watching his parents' marriage fall apart, Nick Hornby - author of High Fidelity, About a Boy and The Complete Polysyllabic Spree- had little sense of home. Then his dad took him to Highbury. Arsenal's football ground would become the source of many of the strongest feelings he'd ever have- joy, humiliation, heartbreak, frustration and hope. In this hilarious, moving and now-classic book, he vividly depicts his childhood life, his time as a teacher, and his first loves (after football), all through the prism of the game, as he insightfully and brilliantly explores obsession, and the way it can shape a life.

Ashley Pennington

It is hard to rate a memoir, because someone has taken the time to write about some aspect of their life. 

I was drawn to this book because I love the movie starring Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon. If you didn't know, the two are now the same. Not exactly. 

This book is a memoir about Hornby's love for the Arsenal football team. From his first game to the team winning their second championship in the late 80s/early 90s, Hornby discusses what it was like to be wrapped up in his beloved team. Much like Fallon was wrapped up in the Red Sox. His entire life revolved around Arsenal and he often points out that how the team's performance mirrored his own life. 

I don't know anything about football. Zero. But this story speaks to anyone who has a passion, should I say obsession, over anything. You'll just understand where Hornby is coming from. 

What I do see reflected from the book to the movie is the team obsession. We see Fallon's personality change during baseball season and how it affects everyone around him. We see the relationships he has made through this fandom and how those people just get him and the love for a team. We see Fallon love the Sox even when they haven't won a game in some time and the joy when they finally win the World Series. 

I would recommend this book. It is written in a dairy format and in parts, so it would be easy to go through at your own pace.

An autobiographical memoir by a humorous British author and obsessed soccer fan captures the intensity of a sports fan who measures his life in seasons rather than years

Claudiu

I really enjoyed this sort of autobiography with a football background or maybe stories about football mixed with autobiographical stuff. I love football (what is called soccer in a couple countries but football everywhere else) but my love of it is nothing compared to the author's real lifelong obsession. Thanks a lot for all these stories that helped me get and feel closer to some of the best teams I know and admire.

Gleich sein erstes Buch machte Nick Hornby mit einem Schlag berühmt: Fever Pitch hat beim Publikum und bei den Journalisten wahre Begeisterungsstürme entfacht. Hornbys Buch war bahnbrechend, weil es als erstes auf den Punkt brachte, was Fußballbesessenheit in all ihren ernsten und komischen Facetten ausmacht. Fever Pitch ist die Geschichte eines Fußballfans, dessen Leben von den seltenen Siegen und zahlreichen Niederlagen seines Clubs bestimmt wird. Der Fan heisst Nick Hornby, sein Verein Arsenal London. Mit wunderbarer Leichtigkeit und sprühendem Witz schildert Hornby die Spiele und sein Leben: In zahlreichen mal amüsanten, mal nachdenklichen Anekdoten erzählt er von der Scheidung der Eltern, dem Alltag in der Vorstadt, dem lustlos absolvierten Studium in Cambridge und den ersten Freundinnen. Fever Pitch ist der Versuch, einen Blick hinter die Besessenheit zu werfen. "Warum hat die Beziehung, die als Schuljungenschwärmerei begann, beinahe ein Vierteljahrhundert überdauert, länger als irgendeine andere Beziehung, die ich freiwillig eingegangen bin?" Ein Bestseller in England und Deutschland - Nick Hornbys Kultbuch Fever Pitch erstmals als Paperback. Der Film zum Buch lief im Frühjahr 1997 in den deutschen Kinos.

Ballfieber - die Geschichte eines Fans

Fever pitch

Marcos Silva

If you are a football fan, you'll find this book amazing. It demonstrates perfectly how a supporter feels when watch a game of its favorite club. If you're not into football, you can read it for the fun of it, because there's lot of funny passages described there.

Amy Arthun Lorton 

I loved the movie "Fever Pitch" and think this book is a cute, light read.

A famous account of growing up to be a fanatical football supporter. Told through a series of match reports, FEVER PITCH has enjoyed enormous critical and commercial success since it was first published in 1992. It has helped to create a new kind ofsports writing, and established Hornby as one of the finest writers of his generation.

Werner Schuette

It is a book about football (for all American reader: it's all about soccer). From somebody who is into football to readers who are into football. For everybody else, think about reading it. 
(we need emojis and links here ;) )
Nick Hornby writes funny, autobiography and analytically about one thing: football (in particular Arsenal London)!


Michael Hessling

Live British writing; that gave this book one extra star. Had a rough time with the slang, though. Still, this books describes being a fan, and I can recognize myself.

Fever Pitch A Fan's Life

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