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by David Thomson

This is the story of the World Cup football final between England and West Germany in 1966, written to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the event. The events recorded in the book span 120 minutes, and it comprises a full narrative of the match. But the chronology allows for flashback, reverie, autobiography, history, jokes, anecdotes and legends. The book explores, among other the nature and appeal of a team; the mood of 1966; the English tradition of being good losers; the bond between kids and fans, and the game and the nature of fantasy involvement with the great players; the author's relationship with his father; the links between fantasy and depression; and living in a dream and getting on with real life. David Thomson is the author of the "Biographical Dictionary of Film", "Suspects", " The Life of David O. Selznick", which won the British Film Institute Prize for Film Book of the Year", and " The Life of Orson Welles".

Paperback

Published January 1, 1997

About the author

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Reviews

[cheeseblab · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is more about the 1966 World Cup final than Moby-Dick is about whaling, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone not attuned enough to soccer to appreciate the stunning visual conjuring of an almost touch-by-touch account, but as with Moby-Dick, this is about much else, too, particularly, in this case, one bizarre element of the author's upbringing, and how that colors everything--even the 1966 World Cup final.