With my summer holiday booked for two weeks in the sun this September I am looking for any Fulham/football books to read? I normally prefer the more active holidays but the misses has won the argument for once and she just wants to lie by a pool for two weeks doing nothing something I find hard to do Does Simon Morgan have an autobiography? And has anybody read it? A palace mate has suggested Simon Jordan's book apparently a good insight into agents and transfers and how poisoned football is generally. Any recommendations would be welcome Cheers
Simon Morgan's 'On Song for Promotion' is one of the best books I've read - not just footy but all books and that's not just bias. It's about one season (the 1996/97 promotion one) and is funny, insightful and well, just a jolly good read. The problem you'll have Cookie is that it's very hard to come by. A non-Fulham one I'd recommend is 'Harry's Games' a look at the psyche of Harry Redknap. Another cracking read where you find yourself 'in the book' as it were, living through the stories and analysis of the character. I won't spoil it by giving away the end game. You can get it quite reasonably on Amazon. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Harrys-Games-Inside-Harry-Redknapp/dp/1780339119 There are also various books (all recommended and written by Fulham afficionados) available from Ashwater Press. http://www.ashwaterpress.co.uk/
As the good author said Bandit (well, very nearly said), “Perhaps one did not want to be read so much as to be understood.” Of his books I preferred 'A Down and Out in Paris and London'. More earthy and factual. The Morgs book and the one about 'Arry are in that category and I guess this was why I was particularly drawn to them. Still as Orwell also said, “If there is hope, it lies in the proles.” That's me off to join the Les Strong party then....
I wouldn't say it was a particularly great book, no revelations or anything, but FA Confidential by David Davies is a decent holiday read. Easy to get through and covers some of the major footballing events in England from early 90's to mid 00's.
There you go Cookie - don't fancy being in your shoes when you tell the missus that there's not going to be a holiday this year.
Cottager's right about 'On Song For Promotion'. Sadly I lent someone my copy and never got it back. As for other football books, I've just finished reading David Winter's 'Brilliant Orange', which explores 'the neurotic genius of dutch football'. I've read a few books that attempt to get under the skin of a particular footballing nation's DNA and this is probably the best of them so far. Jonathan Wilson's 'Inverting the Pyramid' is a history of football tactics and is fascinating. Chuck Korr and Marvin Close's 'More Than Just a Game' tells the story of the prisoners' football association in apartheid South Africa's Robben prison and the vital role it played for the prisoners both in prison and in shaping the post-apartheid South Africa. Non football: John Irving's 'A Prayer for Owen Meaney' is the only book I've read where once I finished it I had to physically fight back the urge to start all over again straight away. I've read virtually everything else he's written just in case he ever gets close to matching it. Ian McEwan's Atonement is his best work - and that's saying something - and is much better than the film (which was pretty good). If you want something more easy going, Jonas Jonasson's 'The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of a Window and Disappeared' has a surprisingly anarchic wit that made me laugh out loud several times. Christopher Brookmyre is generally good too, if you like dark humour with a Scottish accent. If you pushed me for a favourite, I'd say either 'ASnowball In Hell' or 'All Fun and Games Until Someone Loses an Eye', although Snowball uses characters who first appear in other books, so it's possibly not the ideal starting point. That said, it was the first of his I read so then again... Sorry, I ended up suggesting far more books than I meant to. I could add many more, but I'll restrain myself. Hope it's a great holiday, whatever you pick to read.
La Roja by Jimmy Burns is a brilliant journey through Spanish football and looks at how the type of football played in Spain has become the most admired in the world. Along the way you meet some fascinating characters and some brilliant anecdotes. Despite the name Burns was born in Spain and has been a football reporter there for many years. As a non-football book, the Song of Ice & Fire series, better known as the Game of Thrones series is stunning. Just be prepared to give up 6 months of your life to reading all the books in the knowledge that when you reach the end, the story hasn't finished as it still has at least two more books to go before it concludes. (And given the speed with which the author wrote the previous two books it could be 2021 before the last one is published).
They've been on my "to-read" pile for years. I started the Wheel of Time series and it doesn't look like I'll be finishing it in the near future either. I've also got the Age of The Five trilogy to plough through as well! Anyway, I've not read many football books to be honest, but if you've not read it Jaws is a great read, and not too long if you fancy something a bit shorter.
I thought you said you hadn't read many football books - that's Suarez's autobiography, isn't it? I'll get me coat.
I consider myself to be an avid reader but can't say I've read too many football books either to be honest, my friend is trying to get me to read The Secret Footballer which he says is a great read. Currently on Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aaron Ralston, which was recently made into 127 Hours starring James Franco.
