The Thinking Fan’s Guide to the World Cup

In yesterday’s online edition of The Observer there is an article by the American writer Dave Eggers who is the latest in the long line of writers that try to explain why soccer is not as popular in the United States as it is in the rest of the world. While I found the article to be a bit obnoxious and condescending, I was excited to read that it is an excerpt from an upcoming book called The Thinking Fan’s Guide to the World Cup. As a fan who sometimes thinks, I really do enjoy reading quality writing about the Beautiful Game and will be shelling out my money to buy this book.

As you can see from the synopsis below, the concept is taken from World Cup Blog’s playbook. Take 32 fans and let them write about the 32 World Cup teams. With writers like Tim Parks and Nick Hornby involved with the project, there are bound to be some contributions that are more enjoyable than Mr. Egger’s. It will be available on Amazon UK on May 4.

Synopsis from Amazon:

THE THINKING FAN’S GUIDE TO THE WORLD CUP, as the title suggests, is a guide to the 2006 World Cup for the thinking fan. An almanac, a guide and a programme all rolled into one, the editors Matt Weiland (Granta) and Sean Wilsey (McSweeney’s) have gathered together a remarkable team of 32 talents to write pieces on the 32 qualifying teams. Contributors include Geoff Dyer, Dave Eggers, Peter Ho Davies, Nick Hornby, John Lanchester, Henning Mankell, Tim Parks, Caryl Phillips, and Eric Schlosser.