Book Review: The Thinking Fan’s Guide to the World Cup

Some of the best writing about sports is done by people who aren’t full time sportswriters. When you cover sports for a living, it is fairly easy to become cynical and jaded. You are exposed to high priced athletes who often are not the most pleasant or interesting people away from the field. This cynicism frequently results in uninspired and formulaic writing. Most of the writers who have contributed to The Thinking Fan’s Guide to the World Cup do not write about football for a living. They are fans like you and me. They also happen to be great writers.

The book is available in the UK and it will be for sale in the US soon. It features an original piece about each of the 32 countries in this year’s World Cup.

To be clear, this is not strictly a football book. If you are looking for analysis of France’s defense or Italy’s midfield, there are bound to be other books out there that will serve that purpose. But if you are looking for smart, informative and entertaining writing about the politics, history and culture of this year’s participating countries, then you will really enjoy reading this book. Throw in some tasty tidbits about football and you have a sure winner.

While some of the stories and authors might be familiar – Thomas Jones writes about Maradona, Nick Hornby writes about England, Tim Parks pens the Italy chapter, Dave Eggers explains why soccer isn’t popular in the US – it is the stories about the smaller, lesser known countries written by the lesser known writers that are the best.

From Paul Laity, we learn about the role football plays in Cote d’Ivoire’s simmering conflict, as well as the witchdoctors that travel with the team. From Jacob Silverman, we learn about one of Ecuador’s most revered athletes, a speed walking champion, as well as one of the country’s most corrupt politicians. William Finnegan takes us to Madeira in Portugal where we learn about surfing, while also discovering that Cristiano Ronaldo was named after Ronald Reagan. Matther Yeomans teaches us about Costa Rica’s biodiversity, as well as its self-created hooligans problems.

While the writing styles are diverse and the topics equally varied, the one connecting theme of this book is the World Cup. There are 32 countries, each with its unique stories and customs, but they are all united by a single sporting event.

For one month this summer, billions of people from around the world will also be united by the World Cup. The Thinking Fan’s Guide to the World Cup is an excellent way for you to get to know a little bit about where those billions of other people live and the countries those guys in funny shorts will be representing this summer in Germany.