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Heart of Dart-ness: Bullseyes, Boozers and Modern Britain
In Heart of Dart-ness , TV's Ned Boulting sets out to answer the forty-something year old What exactly is darts? Is it a sport, a freak show, a side-show, a pantomime, a riot or a party?
From Purfleet to Minehead, Milton Keynes to Frankfurt, Ned embarks on a journey back to the beginning of the modern game. He tracks down some of the household names who graced childhood television screens and are still among us; names such as Andy Fordham, whose fifty bottles of Pils a day habit led to his near death on the oche, Cliff Lazarenko, whose prodigious drinking was the stuff of legend even among his not exactly abstemious peer-group, Phil Taylor, the greatest of all time, as well as the Europeans, Michael van Gerwen, and Raymond van Barneveld.
Is it entertainment, or exploitation? To answer that question, as well as every other, he learns that all roads lead to the Heart of Dart-ness, and the biggest character the game has ever produced, Eric Bristow.
Perhaps darts is after all, just exactly what it sets out to be; an anti-sport sport, a two-fingered salute to the establishment, a piss-up in a brewery, the ultimate escape. The best night out.
From Purfleet to Minehead, Milton Keynes to Frankfurt, Ned embarks on a journey back to the beginning of the modern game. He tracks down some of the household names who graced childhood television screens and are still among us; names such as Andy Fordham, whose fifty bottles of Pils a day habit led to his near death on the oche, Cliff Lazarenko, whose prodigious drinking was the stuff of legend even among his not exactly abstemious peer-group, Phil Taylor, the greatest of all time, as well as the Europeans, Michael van Gerwen, and Raymond van Barneveld.
Is it entertainment, or exploitation? To answer that question, as well as every other, he learns that all roads lead to the Heart of Dart-ness, and the biggest character the game has ever produced, Eric Bristow.
Perhaps darts is after all, just exactly what it sets out to be; an anti-sport sport, a two-fingered salute to the establishment, a piss-up in a brewery, the ultimate escape. The best night out.
- GenresSportsNonfiction
352 pages, Paperback
Published November 21, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 18, 2019
The author of this book was assigned to cover the emerging TV presence of darts on TV in the 70's and 80's. Before that, he had no idea of how the darts scene was organised, what went on nor any of the names that turned a pub game into an international TV phenomenon. He spent over a decade covering darts and continued to have a friendship with many of the players after that. This book is a collection of facts, history, stories and reminiscences that the author gathered over the years.
If you were not following darts on TV in the 70's and 80's then this book will not be very enlightening since most of the personalities and events covered are from that age. Some of the things I knew about, but most of the stories were revelations to me.
The title of the books refers to the journey the author takes. Similar to Conrad's work he tracks down his ultimate goal with dread and trepidation of the final encounter. The target of his quest was the late, great, Eric Bristow. The man who put darts on the TV map and was the idol of a generation of dart players, myself included.
If you were not following darts on TV in the 70's and 80's then this book will not be very enlightening since most of the personalities and events covered are from that age. Some of the things I knew about, but most of the stories were revelations to me.
The title of the books refers to the journey the author takes. Similar to Conrad's work he tracks down his ultimate goal with dread and trepidation of the final encounter. The target of his quest was the late, great, Eric Bristow. The man who put darts on the TV map and was the idol of a generation of dart players, myself included.
February 5, 2023
A superb read. Ned Boulting draws wonderful stories from the darts legends past and present that he interviews, and paints a wonderful picture of the whole scene. Loads of great stuff on the spread of the sport, the life of the players on tour, development internationally, the mad Dutch fans ... all of it. Highly recommended.
March 19, 2019
A wonderfully written, witty, and insightful look at the world of darts that explores the history, major events, and key figures of the game. Or is it a sport? Ned? Not your typical ‘tales from the oche’ type of read. Can’t wait for volume II.
May 13, 2021
I am a massive darts fan and, coincidentally, like Ned Boulting am also a follower of cycling so I was familiar with his work and do really enjoy it. In general I loved this book; darts deserves an impassioned deep-dive written in a way that does not pander to the lowest common denominator. However at times this does go too far the other way. The long-words and wistful descriptions are perfectly fine, but I started to find the forced comparisons with Conrad’s novel a bit overwrought. Furthermore there are bits of the book that are frustratingly pointless. I’m sure, for example, the in-depth history of Dick Allix’s music career are intended to flesh out his background and character, but I couldn’t care less what their hits were, where they played etc, all absolutely nothing to do with darts. Similarly digging out obscure references to darts from history is nothing to do with the modern game, which is what the rest of the book does so well to describe and characterise. Nevertheless a must-read for the discerning darts fan.
May 24, 2024
Boulting did it again for me: a sport I don't care about but was fascinated by the book nonetheless.
OK, that's not the whole truth, I have been fascinated by darts as a sport for nearly ten years no solely for the same reasons that cause puzzlement in most viewers - where else do you see the top athletes smoking and drinking like the average "philosopher" behind the village shop?
It didn't get me interested in actually watching darts, mind you, but I just loved the collection of anecdotes.
OK, that's not the whole truth, I have been fascinated by darts as a sport for nearly ten years no solely for the same reasons that cause puzzlement in most viewers - where else do you see the top athletes smoking and drinking like the average "philosopher" behind the village shop?
It didn't get me interested in actually watching darts, mind you, but I just loved the collection of anecdotes.
February 6, 2020
Read Ned, if you love the darts.
January 13, 2022
A fairly light run through of darting history from an insider who's also an outsider. Not a prize winner but entertaining.
April 20, 2022
Full of love and empathy, with social history and character studies, especially of Eric Bristow, the White Whale.
February 19, 2024
Good book! I’m into darts now. Bought a set because of this book. I liked when he talked about how much booze they drank.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews