Tilting At Windmills

by Andy Miller

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction

352 pages, Paperback

First published June 6, 2002

About the author

I believe books represent the best that human beings are capable of; if anything, books are superior to the human beings who create them. I hope that eventually books will become sentient and rise up like some robot army to eliminate their frail human masters. I see the e-book as the crucial first step toward that goal.

I am the author of the following:

* The Year of Reading Dangerously: How Fifty Great Books (and Two Not-So-Great Ones) Saved My Life (Fourth Estate)

* 33 1/3: The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society (Continuum)

* Tilting at Windmills: How I Tried to Stop Worrying and Love Sport (Penguin)

In addition I have edited a lot of books by other people [full list to follow]. I have also written stuff for the Times, the Telegraph, the Guardian, the Independent, Esquire, Mojo, Loops, The Second Pass and more.

I live in Kent, where I am being held against my will.

Please note, I am not any of the following Andy Millers:

Andrew Miller, bestselling novelist, winner of the IMPAC and Costa awards, author of Pure, Ingenious Pain, Oxygen, etc. etc.

Andy Miller, poet, winner of the Yeovil Literary Prize for poetry, author of While Giants Sleep

Andy Miller, television script writer and actor, author of Friday Night Lights

A.D. Miller, novelist, author of Booker-shortlisted thriller Snowdrops, whose Christian name is Andrew

Andrew Miller, pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, whatever that is

Andy Miller, guitarist in Britpop band Dodgy, co-author of ‘Staying Out For The Summer’

Andrew Miller, Labour M.P. for Ellesmere Port and Neston

Andrea Miller, founder of Brooklyn’s Gallim Dance company

‘Andy Miller’, concert pianist played by Gene Kelly in Jacques Demy’s 1967 film musical Les Demoiselles de Rochefort

The Andy Miller on Facebook who counts “Women bringing me sandwiches” amongst his activities and interests. I am not on Facebook. I make my own sandwiches.

Other Andy Millers are available.

Reviews

[Christopher Whalen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been wanting to read this ever since I finished Andy Miller’s The Year of Reading Dangerously. It was quite hard to get hold of: I could only find it secondhand, which is probably because it’s slightly dated (originally published in 2002). I’m glad I read it though. It’s a non-fiction book about someone who doesn’t like sport but forces himself to watch and play it for a year. Andy Miller’s hatred of sport stems from being humiliated at school - particularly when he tried to make the hockey team. Over the course of a year he goes to the Boat Race, watches Queens Park Rangers Football Club, and plays a lot of minigolf. It reminded me a bit of Lynn Truss’s Get Her Off the Pitch! (2009). In some ways, it’s like a travel book: a foreigner visits a foreign land. I understand why some people don’t like sport and feel alienated from it. But I’m not one of them. That said, there are times when I go off certain sports for a time. It’s funny and entertaining. The best bits were about his love of minigolf, which takes him to international tournaments in Denmark and Latvia.

[Chris Blanc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best book I've ever read about mini golf

[Dan Oram · Rating 2 out of 5]

Who'd have thought that someone could write a book on mini-golf. Moments of real mirth but sadly it isn't sustained throughout. Still, a good fist of perhaps the most boring sport on the planet...after rowing (sitting down and going backwards).

[Kim · Rating 1 out of 5]

Blech. I read this for my book club, and it was boring. This should have been the length of an article and not a full book.