KidFlash25's Full Review: Nick Hornby - Fever Pitch
Reading Fever Pitch for the first time two years ago was a bit of a catharsis. You see, since the age of 12, I've thrown myself hip-deep into the world of professional sports. In America as well as Britain, your loyalties are pretty much decided on where you're from, and who your family roots for. If you're from New York City, your loyalties may lie with the Yankees, Jets, Rangers, or Knicks. From my vantage point in Western New York, there was really only one choice: the Buffalo Bills. Never mind the fact that Buffalo is 60 miles west of Rochester, my hometown. This was during the franchise's first trip to the Super Bowl, and the entire area was swept up in Bills fever. (I'd experience something similar during my college years in Buffalo, when the Sabres would make three playoff runs in four years, culminating with a Stanley Cup final appearance in 1999.)
After the giddy heights of seeing one's team in the Super Bowl, the resultant four years of failure would break Western New Yorkers' hearts everywhere. Still, a sports fan was forged in those heady early-90s times. Being physically limited by cerebral palsy, my athletic days got no further than college intramurals and a mean game of NHL 2001 on my roommate's PlayStation. However, I do follow pretty much anything I can get my hands on - the four major sports, soccer, and lacrosse being the beneficiaries. In fact, I still harbor a dream of being a sportswriter (still working on that one...)
Enough about my life, let's talk about Nick Hornby. Fever Pitch is, simply put, a fan's diary - moments and images from the life of an Arsenal fan that should resonate with anyone who's ever lived and died with a sports team. As this review is being written by someone who has cried twice during championship defeats by his team(s), Mr. Hornby has done an excellent job explaining to the world at large why us sports fans do what we do.
The book covers just about every major Arsenal moment between 1968, when he first fell for the Gunners at the age of eleven, and 1991 with a Hornby comment aside every one. The team's three FA Cup final defeats during his youth, Hornby's mounting neurosis and subsequent depression, and the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel for him and the team are all covered here. His depression lifts just as the team does, culminating with a glorious May night in 1989 where the team wins its first league title in 18 years. (Since then, Arsenal have won four more titles, including this year's.)
There are moments that hit me far harder than expected. When he writes about the loss of Liam Brady and the ending of his relationship that followed soon after, I couldn't help but think of a similar situation in my life almost five years ago. The difference in my case was the sport (hockey), and the 'Lost Girl' and I remain friends to this day. Still, when Hornby writes of the depressing period afterward, he could very well be writing about the fall of 1999 and my life, not the fall of 1980 and his:
During those terrifiying downs, I would think back to times when I had last felt happy, fulfilled, energetic, optimistic; and she and Brady were a part of those times. They weren't entirely responsible for them, but they were very much there during them, and that was enough to turn those two love affairs into the twin supporting pillars of a different, enchanted age.
It's emotional periods like the one described above that have helped my fandom to fade as I've gotten older. Oh, I still root passionately for all my teams. But the crazy fan days are done - a few well placed 'sports geek' cheap shots by those not in the know, disapproving parents (they never had a problem with my following sports, merely to the extent of my fandom), college and puberty all lessened the pull of sports. Don't get me wrong, I still proudly have merchandise from just about all of my teams' championship glory and the personalized Sabres jersey I got for Christmas 1994. But I can't tell you the last time I got a Bills t-shirt or hat on my own, instead of for Christmas or my birthday. That said, I'm still a fan for life - just last week, I attended an American Hockey League playoff game at the last minute and the excitement was still there, even though I hadn't really paid attention to the team all year. It's fans like that who will get the most enjoyment out of the book.
Sure, those of you unfamiliar with it might get lost in the English syntax and footballing terms, but it's not something that takes you out of the book - ride the wave, and eventually you get the hang of it. The book's themes are universal anyway - people who wouldn't know a baseball pitch from a soccer pitch could still enjoy the book, even if you're shaking your head at Hornby's actions. (Yes, I have celebrated quite loudly following victories - jumped on the floor, impromptu table dances, sprinting from the living room to the bedroom... I've done it all. So jumping on the floor screaming your head off after your team wins a title is nothing new to me.)
It's not surprising that the book has been optioned twice for possible film adaptations. Hornby wrote the screenplay for the British version back in 1997, and there have been rumblings that a Hollywood studio (at the moment, I'm blanking on which one) is planning to Americanize it. Instead of Arsenal and London, we'll have the Red Sox and Boston. Makes sense, I suppose. In the meantime, go out and find a copy, even if you're not a fan. Chances are you'll recognize something or someone, maybe even yourself. Highly recommended.
From the author of High Fidelity comes a sophisticated study of obsession, masculinity, class, identity and loyalty, in a bittersweet book that vividl...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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