The Global Game: Writers on Soccer

by John Turnbull (Editor), Alon Raab (Editor), Thom Satterlee (Editor)

The world’s most popular sport, soccer, is also one of the planet’s prevalent cultural expressions, celebrated and debated as an art form, observed with ritual and passion. Thus it has inspired literary efforts of every sort, from every corner of the globe, by women and men. The writings gathered in this volume reflect the universal and infinitely varied ways in which soccer connects with human experience. Poetry and prose from Ted Hughes, Charles Simic, Eduardo Galeano, Günter Grass, Giovanna Pollarolo, 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature Winner Mario Vargas Llosa, and Elvis Costello—to name but a few—take us to a dizzying array of cultures and climes. From a patch of ground in Missoula, Montana, to a clearing in a Kosovo forest, from the stadiums of Burma and Iran to the northern lights over Greenland to remotest Sierra Leone, these writers show us soccer’s stars and fans, politics and rituals, as well as the game’s power to encourage resistance, inspire faith, and build community.

Genres: Soccer, Nonfiction, Football

316 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2008

About the author

John Turnbull is a Ph.D. student at the University of Texas at San Antonio and a freelance author, anthologist, and editor. He earned the MA TESOL in the Department of English at Northern Illinois University, the Master of Divinity at Columbia Theological Seminary, and the Master of International Affairs at Columbia University, New York. John has worked for ten years as a teacher among and as an advocate for Latin American communities in the United States, México, and South America. In Atlanta, John worked for the nonprofit organizations Literacy Volunteers of Atlanta and the Latin American Association. In 2011, in Popayán, Cauca, Colombia, he served as a six-month volunteer for a teacher’s union, La Asociación de Institutores y Trabajadores de la Educación del Cauca (Asoinca), providing curriculum and teacher-development resources for public-school K-11 English teachers. He was also a peace accompanier in the Urabá region of Colombia. In Chicago, he has volunteered with Universidad Popular, a community center in La Villita, and has worked with English-language learners in Lithuania, Cape Verde, and Thailand.

Reviews

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book of short excerpts about football from global writers. Reading this book allows one to read in English about football from Myanmar to Uruguay to Greenland. I had no idea that some Premier League teams have poets-in-residence, or the important role played by football in Greenland's mythology. Reading Neruda writing about football and so many novelists is quite an experience.

[Rosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly global anthology of writing - fiction, nonfiction, novel excerpts, poetry - on soccer, from kicking a ball down a back alley in Bogota to celebrating a world cup victory.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

i think you have to be really into soccer to get much out of this book. but i happen to be really into soccer :) surprisingly, the pieces by the super well-known people i found less compelling, and i really liked several essays/stories by folks i've never heard of. my main gripe with this anthology is that most of the articles are simply too short. they end just as they are becoming interesting. it makes for good quick reads here and there, but is somewhat unsatisfying. eduardo galleano's piece in it is a perfect example. it seems like it was pulled from a longer work of his and just chopped wrong. i can't wait to his book, Soccer in Sun and Shadow though. in any case, i'm' not a huge fan of the way it was edited, but found many of the pieces to be awesome.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stories Read
"The Origins" - Eduardo Galeano
"Readymade" - Alvaro Enrigue