When Ellen MacArthur became the youngest person ever to complete yachting's most gruelling race, the Vendée Globe, she also assured herself of a place in sporting history as the fastest woman ever to circumnavigate the globe. As the world watched the images of her disasters and triumphs aboard her boat, MacArthur swiftly entered that pantheon of sportsmen and women whose emotional life we came to share over and above their achievements in their chosen field. We strove against the elements with her, we suffered with her when disaster loomed--and, finally, we could all take vicarious pleasure in her ultimate triumph.

This autobiography proves to have been more than worth the wait. The insights we are granted here into just what MacArthur went through genuinely tug at the heart--and never in any sentimental or manipulative way. Her very air of "ordinariness" (no film-star looks, no breast-beating egomania as in all too many sports personalities) was refreshing, but it's that monumental endurance and skill she demonstrated on her epic voyage that commands our admiration. The earlier sections of the book, detailing her childhood in Derbyshire (quite some distance from the sea) may have us impatient for her great ocean adventure, but they're skilfully and affectingly written. And when she begins her preparations for the Vendée Globe, we take a deep breath, knowing that we'll experience all the arduous adventure and danger that is facing her.

Some may argue that autobiographies are being written by younger and younger authors, with their lives still ahead of them. But surely (in this case) the timing is perfect. --Barry Forshaw

Great Woman, Great Book!, 27 Mar 2006
I had seen some news reports of what she had been doing which is what prompted me to buy this book, and its excellant. She tells her story in such a way that you feel that you are sat with her witnessing everything. Couple of the chapters are long which meant people only got grunts out of me for long periods of time. I think the glossary at the back of the book is a cracking idea as even the simple sailing terms i didnt know, so this i found very useful. Great read!

Great Girl...........Brilliant Book, 18 Oct 2005
As a sailor myself, I can understand the emotional rollercoaster Ellen experienced during her time at sea. The book not only gives an insight into what inspired her to sail but also how tough going the days at sea were. I could not put the book down from the minute i started to read it to the end.

This book is truely sensationl and inspiring. It is a must read and i guarantee anyone who reads this book will feel the same.

Great Girl...........Brilliant Book, 18 Oct 2005
As a sailor myself, I can understand the emotional rollercoaster Ellen experienced during her time at sea. The book not only gives an insight into what inspired her to sail but also how tough going the days at sea were. I could not put the book down from the minute i started to read it to the end.

This book is truely sensationl and inspiring. It is a must read and i guarantee anyone who reads this book will feel the same.

An emotional adventure, 30 Dec 2004
This is a well structured and entertaining story. I got enough insight into Ellen as a person, to really be gripped by the ups and downs of the great voyage - even though I knew the ending.

I listened to Ellen reading her story as I painted the outside of the house, balanced on a ladder. It certainly put the little heart stopping moments when my ladder wobbled, into perspective!

Although Ellen is not an actress she still puts enough personal feeling into the reading to more than makes up for that.

Read it, or listen to it, and it will put British winter weather into perspective!

An inspiration to me!, 01 Nov 2004
This book was totally awesome and I didn't want to put it down! I loved reading every page, hearing of Ellen's adventures and also the emotions which we're very real and which I could relate too!I wish her the best in everything she does, she's been an inspiration to me!

In Ronnie O'Sullivan's autobiography, Ronnie, the language is uncompromising, the subject matter challenging and the approach unflinching. Even in an age when inner demons are considered to be an essential part of a star's entourage, Ronnie O'Sullivan's autobiography is a class apart. Undisputedly the most charismatic talent in the game of snooker, the public's successor to Alex Higgins and Jimmy White in the lineage of gunslinger, wide-boy heroes, O'Sullivan began rewriting the record books as a child prodigy, and reached the summit of his game as world champion in 2001--but all along, his life was falling apart.

Ronnie (written with Guardian journalist Simon Hattenstone) is a stark affirmation for those of us who would believe that there must be more to being a top professional sportsman than simply working hard to develop talent--that there are often dark, elemental forces driving achievers to go beyond the point where most of us would cease to care. Ronnie's relationship with his parents is at the heart of the story, underpinning his struggle for contentment, his descent into depression and addiction. We learn that the tabloid facts--his father ran a string of sex shops, was convicted of killing a man in a fight and sentenced to life imprisonment; later his mother was also imprisoned, for tax evasion--are just the half of it.

The style is confessional without being mawkish, and thankfully, O'Sullivan's brand of openness, particularly when chronicling his periods in therapy (including with former England cricket captain turned psychiatrist Mike Brearley) and at the Priory, is free of the awful self-aggrandisement and "me-isms" that blight the official public accounts of many celebrities.

Ultimately this is a tale of redemption, of a young man dismantled by experience, now putting himself back together. O'Sullivan closes the book looking back to the beginning of his public life, his mid-teens, when he first tied his fortunes to professional snooker. He sees it as a golden era, off and on the baize, a period of personal happiness and sporting success the like of which he at last believes has not been lost forever. --Alex Hankin

Great Woman, Great Book!, 27 Mar 2006
I had seen some news reports of what she had been doing which is what prompted me to buy this book, and its excellant. She tells her story in such a way that you feel that you are sat with her witnessing everything. Couple of the chapters are long which meant people only got grunts out of me for long periods of time. I think the glossary at the back of the book is a cracking idea as even the simple sailing terms i didnt know, so this i found very useful. Great read!

Great Girl...........Brilliant Book, 18 Oct 2005
As a sailor myself, I can understand the emotional rollercoaster Ellen experienced during her time at sea. The book not only gives an insight into what inspired her to sail but also how tough going the days at sea were. I could not put the book down from the minute i started to read it to the end.

This book is truely sensationl and inspiring. It is a must read and i guarantee anyone who reads this book will feel the same.

Great Girl...........Brilliant Book, 18 Oct 2005
As a sailor myself, I can understand the emotional rollercoaster Ellen experienced during her time at sea. The book not only gives an insight into what inspired her to sail but also how tough going the days at sea were. I could not put the book down from the minute i started to read it to the end.

This book is truely sensationl and inspiring. It is a must read and i guarantee anyone who reads this book will feel the same.

An emotional adventure, 30 Dec 2004
This is a well structured and entertaining story. I got enough insight into Ellen as a person, to really be gripped by the ups and downs of the great voyage - even though I knew the ending.

I listened to Ellen reading her story as I painted the outside of the house, balanced on a ladder. It certainly put the little heart stopping moments when my ladder wobbled, into perspective!

Although Ellen is not an actress she still puts enough personal feeling into the reading to more than makes up for that.

Read it, or listen to it, and it will put British winter weather into perspective!

An inspiration to me!, 01 Nov 2004
This book was totally awesome and I didn't want to put it down! I loved reading every page, hearing of Ellen's adventures and also the emotions which we're very real and which I could relate too!I wish her the best in everything she does, she's been an inspiration to me!

Ronnie the crack fiend., 18 Mar 2008
Its sad to see such a talent showing, quite unscrupulously, how to smoke crack on the front covers of his audio cd's, books and personalised tobacco tins.

Its said that he has cigarettes inserted in his snooker cue butt so he can quickley relieve the craving.

Anyway enough of the 'legend', lets review the audio cd...

In true unabridged style we find that ronnie stll has trouble reading. At first, i thought the long, pregnant pauses were for tension. I soon realised that it was one of the sound engineers whispering to Ronnie "a-p-p-l-e" as he had trouble reading of the juicy fruit.

Ronnie is very frank about his addictions. He describes the lengths he would go to to get a hit of smack "i would wait all night outside snooker halls in London with my cue between my legs. Sooner or later a punter would pull up and ask what i was offering. It soon got about that i was a good teacher of deep screw"

All in all this audio cd nagged at the purest in me. I'd have much prefered it if it had been read by Brian Blessed or Simon Callow.



Ronnie simply a 'genius' , 09 May 2007
Ronnie's autobiography was a pleasure to read. He has gone through high's and lows in life and makes you wonder some of the things he has been through is quite extraordinary. Ronnie is something special not just as a snooker player but he truly is a great person. Wish him all the best.

Kind regards

Sonia


Ronnie O'Sullivan's Autobiography, 22 Jun 2006
This Book is one of the best Autobiography's I have read it is a compelling read and it never gets boring. It shows you how difficult his life was with his farther and being overweight and addicted to drugs, In this book he gets over all of his addictions and now is one of the best if not the Best Snooker player in the World. He has a frail relationship between him and his farther, they had there ups and there downs but they love each other and that is all that matters. This book shows how much pressure a world champion has. This is an excellent read and it is amazing considering how much hurt Ronnie went through to still become the best snooker player of all time.

Gripping until the end, 02 Feb 2006
Ronnie has been one of my all time heroes in the snooker game and I suppose that helps when reading an autobiography.
Without doubt, he's the best player ever to pick up a cue...his amazing talent perhaps hasn't been fulfilled though until he surpasses the records of Hendry and Davies-or at least matches them.

In this book, it's obvious O'Sullivan is a troubled sole-something he admits quite freely throughout. It makes compelling reading, rather than beating an opponent at snooker there is more of a battle with himself. His depression, being overweight and drug abuse make you want to read this and cling on until the end.
The chapter where he reveals his opinion on the top players in the game (Williams, Hendry, Davies etc) is an excellent inclusion and is almost a relief part after all the hard hitting first chapters.
His relationship with his Father is evident...they didn't see eye to eye but he loves him.
It's a compelling read that rarely let's go and the cliche of hard to put down.

Great book!, 22 Jan 2006
This is a great book, in which Ronnie O'Sullivan tells the reader everything about his childhood, how he began his snooker career, and especially his depression and drug abuse.
It is a book which shows how to turn your life around, and how to become a winner again.

Great Woman, Great Book!, 27 Mar 2006
I had seen some news reports of what she had been doing which is what prompted me to buy this book, and its excellant. She tells her story in such a way that you feel that you are sat with her witnessing everything. Couple of the chapters are long which meant people only got grunts out of me for long periods of time. I think the glossary at the back of the book is a cracking idea as even the simple sailing terms i didnt know, so this i found very useful. Great read!

Great Girl...........Brilliant Book, 18 Oct 2005
As a sailor myself, I can understand the emotional rollercoaster Ellen experienced during her time at sea. The book not only gives an insight into what inspired her to sail but also how tough going the days at sea were. I could not put the book down from the minute i started to read it to the end.

This book is truely sensationl and inspiring. It is a must read and i guarantee anyone who reads this book will feel the same.

Great Girl...........Brilliant Book, 18 Oct 2005
As a sailor myself, I can understand the emotional rollercoaster Ellen experienced during her time at sea. The book not only gives an insight into what inspired her to sail but also how tough going the days at sea were. I could not put the book down from the minute i started to read it to the end.

This book is truely sensationl and inspiring. It is a must read and i guarantee anyone who reads this book will feel the same.

An emotional adventure, 30 Dec 2004
This is a well structured and entertaining story. I got enough insight into Ellen as a person, to really be gripped by the ups and downs of the great voyage - even though I knew the ending.

I listened to Ellen reading her story as I painted the outside of the house, balanced on a ladder. It certainly put the little heart stopping moments when my ladder wobbled, into perspective!

Although Ellen is not an actress she still puts enough personal feeling into the reading to more than makes up for that.

Read it, or listen to it, and it will put British winter weather into perspective!

An inspiration to me!, 01 Nov 2004
This book was totally awesome and I didn't want to put it down! I loved reading every page, hearing of Ellen's adventures and also the emotions which we're very real and which I could relate too!I wish her the best in everything she does, she's been an inspiration to me!

Ronnie the crack fiend., 18 Mar 2008
Its sad to see such a talent showing, quite unscrupulously, how to smoke crack on the front covers of his audio cd's, books and personalised tobacco tins.

Its said that he has cigarettes inserted in his snooker cue butt so he can quickley relieve the craving.

Anyway enough of the 'legend', lets review the audio cd...

In true unabridged style we find that ronnie stll has trouble reading. At first, i thought the long, pregnant pauses were for tension. I soon realised that it was one of the sound engineers whispering to Ronnie "a-p-p-l-e" as he had trouble reading of the juicy fruit.

Ronnie is very frank about his addictions. He describes the lengths he would go to to get a hit of smack "i would wait all night outside snooker halls in London with my cue between my legs. Sooner or later a punter would pull up and ask what i was offering. It soon got about that i was a good teacher of deep screw"

All in all this audio cd nagged at the purest in me. I'd have much prefered it if it had been read by Brian Blessed or Simon Callow.



Ronnie simply a 'genius' , 09 May 2007
Ronnie's autobiography was a pleasure to read. He has gone through high's and lows in life and makes you wonder some of the things he has been through is quite extraordinary. Ronnie is something special not just as a snooker player but he truly is a great person. Wish him all the best.

Kind regards

Sonia


Ronnie O'Sullivan's Autobiography, 22 Jun 2006
This Book is one of the best Autobiography's I have read it is a compelling read and it never gets boring. It shows you how difficult his life was with his farther and being overweight and addicted to drugs, In this book he gets over all of his addictions and now is one of the best if not the Best Snooker player in the World. He has a frail relationship between him and his farther, they had there ups and there downs but they love each other and that is all that matters. This book shows how much pressure a world champion has. This is an excellent read and it is amazing considering how much hurt Ronnie went through to still become the best snooker player of all time.

Gripping until the end, 02 Feb 2006
Ronnie has been one of my all time heroes in the snooker game and I suppose that helps when reading an autobiography.
Without doubt, he's the best player ever to pick up a cue...his amazing talent perhaps hasn't been fulfilled though until he surpasses the records of Hendry and Davies-or at least matches them.

In this book, it's obvious O'Sullivan is a troubled sole-something he admits quite freely throughout. It makes compelling reading, rather than beating an opponent at snooker there is more of a battle with himself. His depression, being overweight and drug abuse make you want to read this and cling on until the end.
The chapter where he reveals his opinion on the top players in the game (Williams, Hendry, Davies etc) is an excellent inclusion and is almost a relief part after all the hard hitting first chapters.
His relationship with his Father is evident...they didn't see eye to eye but he loves him.
It's a compelling read that rarely let's go and the cliche of hard to put down.

Great book!, 22 Jan 2006
This is a great book, in which Ronnie O'Sullivan tells the reader everything about his childhood, how he began his snooker career, and especially his depression and drug abuse.
It is a book which shows how to turn your life around, and how to become a winner again.

The best book of the 1990's - hear it in full, 12 Jun 2001
Hornby pinpoints 1968 as his formative year--the year he turned 11, the year his parents separated, and the year his father first took him to watch Arsenal play. The author quickly moved 'way beyond fandom' into an extreme obsession that has dominated his life, loves, and relationships. His father had initially hoped that Saturday afternoon matches would draw the two closer together, but instead Hornby became completely besotted with the game at the expense of any conversation: 'Football may have provided us with a new medium through which we could communicate, but that was not to say that we used it, or what we chose to say was necessarily positive.' Girlfriends also played second fiddle to one ball and 11 men. He fantasizes that even if a girlfriend 'went into labour at an impossible moment' he would not be able to help out until after the final whistle.

Fever Pitch is not a typical memoir - there are no chapters, just a series of match reports falling into three time frames (childhood, young adulthood, manhood). While watching the May 2, 1972, Reading v. Arsenal match, it became embarrassingly obvious to the then 15-year-old that his white, suburban, middle-class roots made him a wimp with no sense of identity: 'Yorkshire men, Lancastrians, Scots, the Irish, blacks, the rich, the poor, even Americans and Australians have something they can sit in pubs and bars and weep about.' But a boy from Maidenhead could only dream of coming from a place with 'its own tube station and West Indian community and terrible, insoluble social problems.'

Fever Pitch reveals the very special intricacies of British football, which readers new to the game will find astonishing, and which Hornby presents with remarkable humour and honesty-the 'unique' chants sung at matches, the cold rain-soaked terraces, giant cans of warm beer, the trains known as football specials carrying fans to and from matches in prison like conditions, bottles smashing on the tracks, thousands of policemen waiting in anticipation for the cargo of hooligans. The sport and one team in particular have crept into every aspect of Hornby's life--making him see the world through Arsenal-tinted spectacles

Hornby's Fever Pitch is the Remembrance of Things Past of soccer writing. Like Proust, Hornby has a brilliant feel for the way many of life's profounder moments are filtered through the mundane. Hornby has gone on to greater fame as a novelist, the author of High Fidelity and About a Boy. But his subject in the novels remains the same as in this soccer memoir: men who view their whole life through the prism of their obsession. And Hornby's obsession is soccer.

From the first sentence, we understand it's a love affair: 'I fell in love with football as I was later to fall in love with women: suddenly, inexplicably, uncritically, giving no thought to the pain or disruption it would bring.' 'Uncritically' seems to be laying it on a bit thick, though. Each chapter in the book is built around the match that Hornby attended that week. Every detail of Hornby's life from age 11 to 34 is scrutinized through the lens of his unwavering support for Arsenal, a powerhouse London team. When his parents split up, all his dad can offer to interrupt the long, silent weekends is a trip to the match. Young Nick clings to the sport and the team as the only thing that makes sense in his world.

Hornby's strength is his ability to render all of life's moments as reflected through the triumphs and disappointments - mostly the disappointments - of the Arsenal eleven. He acknowledges that his support of Arsenal is the longest, most meaningful relationship he has had in his life. Fever Pitch is Hornby's attempt to understand his own life, and he realizes that this effort would be shallow and disingenuous if he didn't view his life in terms of that relationship.

So, even as he contemplates marriage, we find him fretting over the fortunes of the team. As he tries to quit smoking, we watch him struggle to make it through close matches at the end of the season without lighting up. He freely admits that the start of the Gulf War, which was announced on the scoreboard during a pivotal match with Everton, took a back seat to Arsenal's 1-0 win. Hornby's viewing his entire existence through soccer does not diminish the events of his life. Instead, his memories register all that much more crisply because they pack the emotive force of a well-struck ball hitting the back of the net.

Comic writer Tim Moore trades his ailing Rolls Royce for a bicycle, a map and a water bottle in French Revolutions. This is a quest to pedal the route of the Tour de France, no mean feat for the fit, let alone a self-described suburban slouch. The resulting 2,256-haphazard-mile journey transforms Moore into an incredibly fit and passionately proud cyclist. Initially, Moore takes the "I will do it and it probably will kill me" approach. His normal perspective, as a stooge to life's misfortunes, plays well as he prepares to ride the route of the 2000 Tour de France. Moore is the everyman who pedalled in youth and now wouldn't ride a bike to the corner store. But unlike a traveller by car, train or plane, Moore has to navigate France under his own steam. Somewhere around the Ventoux, the world's windiest place, Moore starts to change. He becomes enraptured by the feat itself as mile by mile he realises he is no longer an accidental cyclist but a lean, mean cycling machine. Gradually, the narrative turns from travel to a personal quest. Along the route, Moore's details of the heroes of the Tour make an excellent primer on this gruelling race and helps the uninitiated understand the frenzy that grips France each July as the races meanders through incidental villages, over mountains and, finally, into Paris. It is worth reading for that alone. Having survived mountains of pain, a disgusting diet and motels of dubious value, a new, muscular Moore concludes that "I might never leave my mark on the Tour, but that didn't matter. It has left its mark on me". To follow Moore's path of perspiration is certainly not a vacation. Yet, this curmudgeonly clever and inspirational book makes one want to do just that. "Old Father Time was catching up with Old Father Tim. If I didn't do it this year, I wouldn't because maybe next year I couldn't," he says before starting out. And that, as Tim Moore so surely points out, is what pushes any true traveller out the door. --Kathleen Buckley

Great Woman, Great Book!, 27 Mar 2006
I had seen some news reports of what she had been doing which is what prompted me to buy this book, and its excellant. She tells her story in such a way that you feel that you are sat with her witnessing everything. Couple of the chapters are long which meant people only got grunts out of me for long periods of time. I think the glossary at the back of the book is a cracking idea as even the simple sailing terms i didnt know, so this i found very useful. Great read!

Great Girl...........Brilliant Book, 18 Oct 2005
As a sailor myself, I can understand the emotional rollercoaster Ellen experienced during her time at sea. The book not only gives an insight into what inspired her to sail but also how tough going the days at sea were. I could not put the book down from the minute i started to read it to the end.

This book is truely sensationl and inspiring. It is a must read and i guarantee anyone who reads this book will feel the same.

Great Girl...........Brilliant Book, 18 Oct 2005
As a sailor myself, I can understand the emotional rollercoaster Ellen experienced during her time at sea. The book not only gives an insight into what inspired her to sail but also how tough going the days at sea were. I could not put the book down from the minute i started to read it to the end.

This book is truely sensationl and inspiring. It is a must read and i guarantee anyone who reads this book will feel the same.

An emotional adventure, 30 Dec 2004
This is a well structured and entertaining story. I got enough insight into Ellen as a person, to really be gripped by the ups and downs of the great voyage - even though I knew the ending.

I listened to Ellen reading her story as I painted the outside of the house, balanced on a ladder. It certainly put the little heart stopping moments when my ladder wobbled, into perspective!

Although Ellen is not an actress she still puts enough personal feeling into the reading to more than makes up for that.

Read it, or listen to it, and it will put British winter weather into perspective!

An inspiration to me!, 01 Nov 2004
This book was totally awesome and I didn't want to put it down! I loved reading every page, hearing of Ellen's adventures and also the emotions which we're very real and which I could relate too!I wish her the best in everything she does, she's been an inspiration to me!

Ronnie the crack fiend., 18 Mar 2008
Its sad to see such a talent showing, quite unscrupulously, how to smoke crack on the front covers of his audio cd's, books and personalised tobacco tins.

Its said that he has cigarettes inserted in his snooker cue butt so he can quickley relieve the craving.

Anyway enough of the 'legend', lets review the audio cd...

In true unabridged style we find that ronnie stll has trouble reading. At first, i thought the long, pregnant pauses were for tension. I soon realised that it was one of the sound engineers whispering to Ronnie "a-p-p-l-e" as he had trouble reading of the juicy fruit.

Ronnie is very frank about his addictions. He describes the lengths he would go to to get a hit of smack "i would wait all night outside snooker halls in London with my cue between my legs. Sooner or later a punter would pull up and ask what i was offering. It soon got about that i was a good teacher of deep screw"

All in all this audio cd nagged at the purest in me. I'd have much prefered it if it had been read by Brian Blessed or Simon Callow.



Ronnie simply a 'genius' , 09 May 2007
Ronnie's autobiography was a pleasure to read. He has gone through high's and lows in life and makes you wonder some of the things he has been through is quite extraordinary. Ronnie is something special not just as a snooker player but he truly is a great person. Wish him all the best.

Kind regards

Sonia


Ronnie O'Sullivan's Autobiography, 22 Jun 2006
This Book is one of the best Autobiography's I have read it is a compelling read and it never gets boring. It shows you how difficult his life was with his farther and being overweight and addicted to drugs, In this book he gets over all of his addictions and now is one of the best if not the Best Snooker player in the World. He has a frail relationship between him and his farther, they had there ups and there downs but they love each other and that is all that matters. This book shows how much pressure a world champion has. This is an excellent read and it is amazing considering how much hurt Ronnie went through to still become the best snooker player of all time.

Gripping until the end, 02 Feb 2006
Ronnie has been one of my all time heroes in the snooker game and I suppose that helps when reading an autobiography.
Without doubt, he's the best player ever to pick up a cue...his amazing talent perhaps hasn't been fulfilled though until he surpasses the records of Hendry and Davies-or at least matches them.

In this book, it's obvious O'Sullivan is a troubled sole-something he admits quite freely throughout. It makes compelling reading, rather than beating an opponent at snooker there is more of a battle with himself. His depression, being overweight and drug abuse make you want to read this and cling on until the end.
The chapter where he reveals his opinion on the top players in the game (Williams, Hendry, Davies etc) is an excellent inclusion and is almost a relief part after all the hard hitting first chapters.
His relationship with his Father is evident...they didn't see eye to eye but he loves him.
It's a compelling read that rarely let's go and the cliche of hard to put down.

Great book!, 22 Jan 2006
This is a great book, in which Ronnie O'Sullivan tells the reader everything about his childhood, how he began his snooker career, and especially his depression and drug abuse.
It is a book which shows how to turn your life around, and how to become a winner again.

The best book of the 1990's - hear it in full, 12 Jun 2001
Hornby pinpoints 1968 as his formative year--the year he turned 11, the year his parents separated, and the year his father first took him to watch Arsenal play. The author quickly moved 'way beyond fandom' into an extreme obsession that has dominated his life, loves, and relationships. His father had initially hoped that Saturday afternoon matches would draw the two closer together, but instead Hornby became completely besotted with the game at the expense of any conversation: 'Football may have provided us with a new medium through which we could communicate, but that was not to say that we used it, or what we chose to say was necessarily positive.' Girlfriends also played second fiddle to one ball and 11 men. He fantasizes that even if a girlfriend 'went into labour at an impossible moment' he would not be able to help out until after the final whistle.

Fever Pitch is not a typical memoir - there are no chapters, just a series of match reports falling into three time frames (childhood, young adulthood, manhood). While watching the May 2, 1972, Reading v. Arsenal match, it became embarrassingly obvious to the then 15-year-old that his white, suburban, middle-class roots made him a wimp with no sense of identity: 'Yorkshire men, Lancastrians, Scots, the Irish, blacks, the rich, the poor, even Americans and Australians have something they can sit in pubs and bars and weep about.' But a boy from Maidenhead could only dream of coming from a place with 'its own tube station and West Indian community and terrible, insoluble social problems.'

Fever Pitch reveals the very special intricacies of British football, which readers new to the game will find astonishing, and which Hornby presents with remarkable humour and honesty-the 'unique' chants sung at matches, the cold rain-soaked terraces, giant cans of warm beer, the trains known as football specials carrying fans to and from matches in prison like conditions, bottles smashing on the tracks, thousands of policemen waiting in anticipation for the cargo of hooligans. The sport and one team in particular have crept into every aspect of Hornby's life--making him see the world through Arsenal-tinted spectacles

Hornby's Fever Pitch is the Remembrance of Things Past of soccer writing. Like Proust, Hornby has a brilliant feel for the way many of life's profounder moments are filtered through the mundane. Hornby has gone on to greater fame as a novelist, the author of High Fidelity and About a Boy. But his subject in the novels remains the same as in this soccer memoir: men who view their whole life through the prism of their obsession. And Hornby's obsession is soccer.

From the first sentence, we understand it's a love affair: 'I fell in love with football as I was later to fall in love with women: suddenly, inexplicably, uncritically, giving no thought to the pain or disruption it would bring.' 'Uncritically' seems to be laying it on a bit thick, though. Each chapter in the book is built around the match that Hornby attended that week. Every detail of Hornby's life from age 11 to 34 is scrutinized through the lens of his unwavering support for Arsenal, a powerhouse London team. When his parents split up, all his dad can offer to interrupt the long, silent weekends is a trip to the match. Young Nick clings to the sport and the team as the only thing that makes sense in his world.

Hornby's strength is his ability to render all of life's moments as reflected through the triumphs and disappointments - mostly the disappointments - of the Arsenal eleven. He acknowledges that his support of Arsenal is the longest, most meaningful relationship he has had in his life. Fever Pitch is Hornby's attempt to understand his own life, and he realizes that this effort would be shallow and disingenuous if he didn't view his life in terms of that relationship.

So, even as he contemplates marriage, we find him fretting over the fortunes of the team. As he tries to quit smoking, we watch him struggle to make it through close matches at the end of the season without lighting up. He freely admits that the start of the Gulf War, which was announced on the scoreboard during a pivotal match with Everton, took a back seat to Arsenal's 1-0 win. Hornby's viewing his entire existence through soccer does not diminish the events of his life. Instead, his memories register all that much more crisply because they pack the emotive force of a well-struck ball hitting the back of the net.

Always pleasing, 26 Nov 2007
Tim Moore has produced a book that makes you laugh out loud yet again.

This one is slightly different as you suspect Moore had started to lose his mind before he even began his journey - the Tour de France route without even a modicum of serious training??? His stories of past tour riders demonstrates a genuine interest in his subject but his insane antics when attempting to emulate them suggests a man with very little reserves in the sanity store....

This book is, as always, a highly enjoyable (and individualistic) addition to the travel books of recent years. Forget Bryson, read Moore!

A good read but not as funny as many claim, 09 Oct 2007
I bought this book and started reading with anticipation. It is generally quite interesting, and does contain many amusing incidents, but I would certainly not describe the book as "laugh out loud funny". There is no doubting Moore's achievement in following much of the Tour route, and he does have a perceptive eye for the idiosyncracies of the French. I would class this as a holiday read, it doesn't overly tax the brain, it's funny in places, but could never be described as great literature. I would recommend it to read, and have no regrets about having bought it, but you will make your own mind up whether it deserves the hilarious plaudits it has been given.

Great for Tour de France fans, 18 Feb 2007
I have been lucky enough to follow a few Tours in my life usually on my own and on a motorbike with very little luggage and this book reminds me of the emotions I went through on those journeys. There was none of the pain obviously, but the scenery and constant weather watching brings it all back. The villages he describes come alive for one day in the year just because this amazing event is passing through. Until you've been up Ventoux, it's hard to imagine how anyone could cycle up it after being in the saddle all day but the author's references to the late Tom Simpson was also poignant reminding us of how he died 40 years ago on that mountain. This book is funny, descriptive and a great read for anyone who is in awe of cycling as I am and for someone who has never really ridden a bike before, I think he did rather well. Who cares if he cheated? All he did was face the stark realisation that the men who compete in the Tour de France are totally dedicated sportsmen with a passion most of us will never know.

Amusing in places, but wordy writing style, 01 Jan 2007
I'm afraid I didn't find this book particularly funny and came to dislike Moore's wordy, over-descriptive writing style; like one reviewer said, it tends to hide the meaning or intent of what he is trying to say. And were his experiences as really as entertaining as he makes out, or has he taken artistic license a bit too far?

I thought the most interesting bits were the anecdotes about past Tours, including Paul Kimmage's experiences, though these became less frequent in the latter half of the book.

Another star is lost because he didn't ride the whole route, as the book's title implies.

Larry David on a bike, 27 Aug 2006
Moore is a talented writer and in the space of 280 pages manages to give a pointed critique on the absurdities of the French; provide overwhelming proof that the word "exercise" for the over 30's is actually an abbreviation of the term "exercise in futility"; and, most impressive of all, comes perilously close to getting himself divorced.

My favourite bit in the book comes on the road to Evian. When Moore meets a couple who complain about how cold it is, he comments, with intentional vulgarity, that he's sure they can think of others ways of warming themselves up. Delighted with this, he cycles off only to become aghast when it finally dawns on him that they are not actually a couple but brother and sister. Initially repentant, Moore concludes that:

"my veiled accusation might indeed have forestalled an incestuous atrocity: they wore the same clothes, after all, and rode the same bikes - and, let's face it, there's no smoke without fire."

A witty and irreverent travelogue.

Great Woman, Great Book!, 27 Mar 2006
I had seen some news reports of what she had been doing which is what prompted me to buy this book, and its excellant. She tells her story in such a way that you feel that you are sat with her witnessing everything. Couple of the chapters are long which meant people only got grunts out of me for long periods of time. I think the glossary at the back of the book is a cracking idea as even the simple sailing terms i didnt know, so this i found very useful. Great read!

Great Girl...........Brilliant Book, 18 Oct 2005
As a sailor myself, I can understand the emotional rollercoaster Ellen experienced during her time at sea. The book not only gives an insight into what inspired her to sail but also how tough going the days at sea were. I could not put the book down from the minute i started to read it to the end.

This book is truely sensationl and inspiring. It is a must read and i guarantee anyone who reads this book will feel the same.

Great Girl...........Brilliant Book, 18 Oct 2005
As a sailor myself, I can understand the emotional rollercoaster Ellen experienced during her time at sea. The book not only gives an insight into what inspired her to sail but also how tough going the days at sea were. I could not put the book down from the minute i started to read it to the end.

This book is truely sensationl and inspiring. It is a must read and i guarantee anyone who reads this book will feel the same.

An emotional adventure, 30 Dec 2004
This is a well structured and entertaining story. I got enough insight into Ellen as a person, to really be gripped by the ups and downs of the great voyage - even though I knew the ending.

I listened to Ellen reading her story as I painted the outside of the house, balanced on a ladder. It certainly put the little heart stopping moments when my ladder wobbled, into perspective!

Although Ellen is not an actress she still puts enough personal feeling into the reading to more than makes up for that.

Read it, or listen to it, and it will put British winter weather into perspective!

An inspiration to me!, 01 Nov 2004
This book was totally awesome and I didn't want to put it down! I loved reading every page, hearing of Ellen's adventures and also the emotions which we're very real and which I could relate too!I wish her the best in everything she does, she's been an inspiration to me!

Ronnie the crack fiend., 18 Mar 2008
Its sad to see such a talent showing, quite unscrupulously, how to smoke crack on the front covers of his audio cd's, books and personalised tobacco tins.

Its said that he has cigarettes inserted in his snooker cue butt so he can quickley relieve the craving.

Anyway enough of the 'legend', lets review the audio cd...

In true unabridged style we find that ronnie stll has trouble reading. At first, i thought the long, pregnant pauses were for tension. I soon realised that it was one of the sound engineers whispering to Ronnie "a-p-p-l-e" as he had trouble reading of the juicy fruit.

Ronnie is very frank about his addictions. He describes the lengths he would go to to get a hit of smack "i would wait all night outside snooker halls in London with my cue between my legs. Sooner or later a punter would pull up and ask what i was offering. It soon got about that i was a good teacher of deep screw"

All in all this audio cd nagged at the purest in me. I'd have much prefered it if it had been read by Brian Blessed or Simon Callow.



Ronnie simply a 'genius' , 09 May 2007
Ronnie's autobiography was a pleasure to read. He has gone through high's and lows in life and makes you wonder some of the things he has been through is quite extraordinary. Ronnie is something special not just as a snooker player but he truly is a great person. Wish him all the best.

Kind regards

Sonia


Ronnie O'Sullivan's Autobiography, 22 Jun 2006
This Book is one of the best Autobiography's I have read it is a compelling read and it never gets boring. It shows you how difficult his life was with his farther and being overweight and addicted to drugs, In this book he gets over all of his addictions and now is one of the best if not the Best Snooker player in the World. He has a frail relationship between him and his farther, they had there ups and there downs but they love each other and that is all that matters. This book shows how much pressure a world champion has. This is an excellent read and it is amazing considering how much hurt Ronnie went through to still become the best snooker player of all time.

Gripping until the end, 02 Feb 2006
Ronnie has been one of my all time heroes in the snooker game and I suppose that helps when reading an autobiography.
Without doubt, he's the best player ever to pick up a cue...his amazing talent perhaps hasn't been fulfilled though until he surpasses the records of Hendry and Davies-or at least matches them.

In this book, it's obvious O'Sullivan is a troubled sole-something he admits quite freely throughout. It makes compelling reading, rather than beating an opponent at snooker there is more of a battle with himself. His depression, being overweight and drug abuse make you want to read this and cling on until the end.
The chapter where he reveals his opinion on the top players in the game (Williams, Hendry, Davies etc) is an excellent inclusion and is almost a relief part after all the hard hitting first chapters.
His relationship with his Father is evident...they didn't see eye to eye but he loves him.
It's a compelling read that rarely let's go and the cliche of hard to put down.

Great book!, 22 Jan 2006
This is a great book, in which Ronnie O'Sullivan tells the reader everything about his childhood, how he began his snooker career, and especially his depression and drug abuse.
It is a book which shows how to turn your life around, and how to become a winner again.

The best book of the 1990's - hear it in full, 12 Jun 2001
Hornby pinpoints 1968 as his formative year--the year he turned 11, the year his parents separated, and the year his father first took him to watch Arsenal play. The author quickly moved 'way beyond fandom' into an extreme obsession that has dominated his life, loves, and relationships. His father had initially hoped that Saturday afternoon matches would draw the two closer together, but instead Hornby became completely besotted with the game at the expense of any conversation: 'Football may have provided us with a new medium through which we could communicate, but that was not to say that we used it, or what we chose to say was necessarily positive.' Girlfriends also played second fiddle to one ball and 11 men. He fantasizes that even if a girlfriend 'went into labour at an impossible moment' he would not be able to help out until after the final whistle.

Fever Pitch is not a typical memoir - there are no chapters, just a series of match reports falling into three time frames (childhood, young adulthood, manhood). While watching the May 2, 1972, Reading v. Arsenal match, it became embarrassingly obvious to the then 15-year-old that his white, suburban, middle-class roots made him a wimp with no sense of identity: 'Yorkshire men, Lancastrians, Scots, the Irish, blacks, the rich, the poor, even Americans and Australians have something they can sit in pubs and bars and weep about.' But a boy from Maidenhead could only dream of coming from a place with 'its own tube station and West Indian community and terrible, insoluble social problems.'

Fever Pitch reveals the very special intricacies of British football, which readers new to the game will find astonishing, and which Hornby presents with remarkable humour and honesty-the 'unique' chants sung at matches, the cold rain-soaked terraces, giant cans of warm beer, the trains known as football specials carrying fans to and from matches in prison like conditions, bottles smashing on the tracks, thousands of policemen waiting in anticipation for the cargo of hooligans. The sport and one team in particular have crept into every aspect of Hornby's life--making him see the world through Arsenal-tinted spectacles

Hornby's Fever Pitch is the Remembrance of Things Past of soccer writing. Like Proust, Hornby has a brilliant feel for the way many of life's profounder moments are filtered through the mundane. Hornby has gone on to greater fame as a novelist, the author of High Fidelity and About a Boy. But his subject in the novels remains the same as in this soccer memoir: men who view their whole life through the prism of their obsession. And Hornby's obsession is soccer.

From the first sentence, we understand it's a love affair: 'I fell in love with football as I was later to fall in love with women: suddenly, inexplicably, uncritically, giving no thought to the pain or disruption it would bring.' 'Uncritically' seems to be laying it on a bit thick, though. Each chapter in the book is built around the match that Hornby attended that week. Every detail of Hornby's life from age 11 to 34 is scrutinized through the lens of his unwavering support for Arsenal, a powerhouse London team. When his parents split up, all his dad can offer to interrupt the long, silent weekends is a trip to the match. Young Nick clings to the sport and the team as the only thing that makes sense in his world.

Hornby's strength is his ability to render all of life's moments as reflected through the triumphs and disappointments - mostly the disappointments - of the Arsenal eleven. He acknowledges that his support of Arsenal is the longest, most meaningful relationship he has had in his life. Fever Pitch is Hornby's attempt to understand his own life, and he realizes that this effort would be shallow and disingenuous if he didn't view his life in terms of that relationship.

So, even as he contemplates marriage, we find him fretting over the fortunes of the team. As he tries to quit smoking, we watch him struggle to make it through close matches at the end of the season without lighting up. He freely admits that the start of the Gulf War, which was announced on the scoreboard during a pivotal match with Everton, took a back seat to Arsenal's 1-0 win. Hornby's viewing his entire existence through soccer does not diminish the events of his life. Instead, his memories register all that much more crisply because they pack the emotive force of a well-struck ball hitting the back of the net.

Always pleasing, 26 Nov 2007
Tim Moore has produced a book that makes you laugh out loud yet again.

This one is slightly different as you suspect Moore had started to lose his mind before he even began his journey - the Tour de France route without even a modicum of serious training??? His stories of past tour riders demonstrates a genuine interest in his subject but his insane antics when attempting to emulate them suggests a man with very little reserves in the sanity store....

This book is, as always, a highly enjoyable (and individualistic) addition to the travel books of recent years. Forget Bryson, read Moore!

A good read but not as funny as many claim, 09 Oct 2007
I bought this book and started reading with anticipation. It is generally quite interesting, and does contain many amusing incidents, but I would certainly not describe the book as "laugh out loud funny". There is no doubting Moore's achievement in following much of the Tour route, and he does have a perceptive eye for the idiosyncracies of the French. I would class this as a holiday read, it doesn't overly tax the brain, it's funny in places, but could never be described as great literature. I would recommend it to read, and have no regrets about having bought it, but you will make your own mind up whether it deserves the hilarious plaudits it has been given.

Great for Tour de France fans, 18 Feb 2007
I have been lucky enough to follow a few Tours in my life usually on my own and on a motorbike with very little luggage and this book reminds me of the emotions I went through on those journeys. There was none of the pain obviously, but the scenery and constant weather watching brings it all back. The villages he describes come alive for one day in the year just because this amazing event is passing through. Until you've been up Ventoux, it's hard to imagine how anyone could cycle up it after being in the saddle all day but the author's references to the late Tom Simpson was also poignant reminding us of how he died 40 years ago on that mountain. This book is funny, descriptive and a great read for anyone who is in awe of cycling as I am and for someone who has never really ridden a bike before, I think he did rather well. Who cares if he cheated? All he did was face the stark realisation that the men who compete in the Tour de France are totally dedicated sportsmen with a passion most of us will never know.

Amusing in places, but wordy writing style, 01 Jan 2007
I'm afraid I didn't find this book particularly funny and came to dislike Moore's wordy, over-descriptive writing style; like one reviewer said, it tends to hide the meaning or intent of what he is trying to say. And were his experiences as really as entertaining as he makes out, or has he taken artistic license a bit too far?

I thought the most interesting bits were the anecdotes about past Tours, including Paul Kimmage's experiences, though these became less frequent in the latter half of the book.

Another star is lost because he didn't ride the whole route, as the book's title implies.

Larry David on a bike, 27 Aug 2006
Moore is a talented writer and in the space of 280 pages manages to give a pointed critique on the absurdities of the French; provide overwhelming proof that the word "exercise" for the over 30's is actually an abbreviation of the term "exercise in futility"; and, most impressive of all, comes perilously close to getting himself divorced.

My favourite bit in the book comes on the road to Evian. When Moore meets a couple who complain about how cold it is, he comments, with intentional vulgarity, that he's sure they can think of others ways of warming themselves up. Delighted with this, he cycles off only to become aghast when it finally dawns on him that they are not actually a couple but brother and sister. Initially repentant, Moore concludes that:

"my veiled accusation might indeed have forestalled an incestuous atrocity: they wore the same clothes, after all, and rode the same bikes - and, let's face it, there's no smoke without fire."

A witty and irreverent travelogue.

a page turner, 04 May 2008
I caught half the documentary on the BBC, and was captivated, until I finally got hold of the book. I could not put it down until the last page was read at 2 in the morning.
There is not much which has not been said most eloquently in some of the other reviews, so I wont try it. But for me the fascinating thing was the nature of the voice which kept on pushing him to continue against all odds. Where do these phenomena come from, when we go beyond convention and conception? He never questions it, but in a matter of fact tells the story of a most extraordinary defiance of death. He was truly touched by grace and I love to buy him a pint if ever I get up to Sheffield....
Truly inspirational, I recomend this as imperative reading for anybody who is dealing with a life threatening disease or other circumstances. Such a fountain of inspiration to not give up...whatever

Better than the film!, 05 Mar 2008
Still immensely powerful 21 years after the event. I read this book 10 years ago and it inspired me to walk the Huayhuash Circuit last year

A Testimony Of Supreme Endurance., 14 Jan 2008
Upon completion of this book you'll still be wondering just how Joe Simpson survived this terrible ordeal. All the odds were against him. And after receiving his injury at such an early and hazardous stage of the decent, it's all too easy to think that Simpson should have gone down in the history books as just another victim of mountaineering disasters. Death defying is the only way to summarize this journey that Simpson eloquently depicts. No review can do justice to this great story that must be read first hand. It's one of my favourites. And you'll be hard-pressed to put this book down once you've picked it up.

Gut wrenching, 14 Nov 2007
I don't know much about climbing and never wanted to. I read this book because I was dragged to see the film Touching the Void by a friend, and came out exhilarated and traumatised in equal measure. The book, which came first, is very similar. It's a total roller coaster ride, telling a true story of a horrific climbing disaster in such a way as to make it the most compelling thing you can imagine, even if, like me, true stories and sporting tales are not your thing. Joe Simpson and his friend and climbing partner tackle a terrifically difficult mountain in the Himalayas. Used only to European mountains, they wildly underestimate their ability and their experience and things go badly wrong. That they survive is clear. Simpson writes his own story. How they survive is part of what makes the story so miraculous.

just read it, 01 Nov 2007
This book is the only book I have read in less than 36 hours. Not for its simplicity as its wonderfully crafted. It is so compelling, I could do nothing else until I finished it!

The story of Joe's brush with death and Simon's fear of leaving him is a miraculous tale of human endeavor, courage, compassion, skill and bravery. It points out that being brave isn't about not getting scared, but doing it anyway.

Great Woman, Great Book!, 27 Mar 2006
I had seen some news reports of what she had been doing which is what prompted me to buy this book, and its excellant. She tells her story in such a way that you feel that you are sat with her witnessing everything. Couple of the chapters are long which meant people only got grunts out of me for long periods of time. I think the glossary at the back of the book is a cracking idea as even the simple sailing terms i didnt know, so this i found very useful. Great read!

Great Girl...........Brilliant Book, 18 Oct 2005
As a sailor myself, I can understand the emotional rollercoaster Ellen experienced during her time at sea. The book not only gives an insight into what inspired her to sail but also how tough going the days at sea were. I could not put the book down from the minute i started to read it to the end.

This book is truely sensationl and inspiring. It is a must read and i guarantee anyone who reads this book will feel the same.

Great Girl...........Brilliant Book, 18 Oct 2005
As a sailor myself, I can understand the emotional rollercoaster Ellen experienced during her time at sea. The book not only gives an insight into what inspired her to sail but also how tough going the days at sea were. I could not put the book down from the minute i started to read it to the end.

This book is truely sensationl and inspiring. It is a must read and i guarantee anyone who reads this book will feel the same.

An emotional adventure, 30 Dec 2004
This is a well structured and entertaining story. I got enough insight into Ellen as a person, to really be gripped by the ups and downs of the great voyage - even though I knew the ending.

I listened to Ellen reading her story as I painted the outside of the house, balanced on a ladder. It certainly put the little heart stopping moments when my ladder wobbled, into perspective!

Although Ellen is not an actress she still puts enough personal feeling into the reading to more than makes up for that.

Read it, or listen to it, and it will put British winter weather into perspective!

An inspiration to me!, 01 Nov 2004
This book was totally awesome and I didn't want to put it down! I loved reading every page, hearing of Ellen's adventures and also the emotions which we're very real and which I could relate too!I wish her the best in everything she does, she's been an inspiration to me!

Ronnie the crack fiend., 18 Mar 2008
Its sad to see such a talent showing, quite unscrupulously, how to smoke crack on the front covers of his audio cd's, books and personalised tobacco tins.

Its said that he has cigarettes inserted in his snooker cue butt so he can quickley relieve the craving.

Anyway enough of the 'legend', lets review the audio cd...

In true unabridged style we find that ronnie stll has trouble reading. At first, i thought the long, pregnant pauses were for tension. I soon realised that it was one of the sound engineers whispering to Ronnie "a-p-p-l-e" as he had trouble reading of the juicy fruit.

Ronnie is very frank about his addictions. He describes the lengths he would go to to get a hit of smack "i would wait all night outside snooker halls in London with my cue between my legs. Sooner or later a punter would pull up and ask what i was offering. It soon got about that i was a good teacher of deep screw"

All in all this audio cd nagged at the purest in me. I'd have much prefered it if it had been read by Brian Blessed or Simon Callow.



Ronnie simply a 'genius' , 09 May 2007
Ronnie's autobiography was a pleasure to read. He has gone through high's and lows in life and makes you wonder some of the things he has been through is quite extraordinary. Ronnie is something special not just as a snooker player but he truly is a great person. Wish him all the best.

Kind regards

Sonia


Ronnie O'Sullivan's Autobiography, 22 Jun 2006
This Book is one of the best Autobiography's I have read it is a compelling read and it never gets boring. It shows you how difficult his life was with his farther and being overweight and addicted to drugs, In this book he gets over all of his addictions and now is one of the best if not the Best Snooker player in the World. He has a frail relationship between him and his farther, they had there ups and there downs but they love each other and that is all that matters. This book shows how much pressure a world champion has. This is an excellent read and it is amazing considering how much hurt Ronnie went through to still become the best snooker player of all time.

Gripping until the end, 02 Feb 2006
Ronnie has been one of my all time heroes in the snooker game and I suppose that helps when reading an autobiography.
Without doubt, he's the best player ever to pick up a cue...his amazing talent perhaps hasn't been fulfilled though until he surpasses the records of Hendry and Davies-or at least matches them.

In this book, it's obvious O'Sullivan is a troubled sole-something he admits quite freely throughout. It makes compelling reading, rather than beating an opponent at snooker there is more of a battle with himself. His depression, being overweight and drug abuse make you want to read this and cling on until the end.
The chapter where he reveals his opinion on the top players in the game (Williams, Hendry, Davies etc) is an excellent inclusion and is almost a relief part after all the hard hitting first chapters.
His relationship with his Father is evident...they didn't see eye to eye but he loves him.
It's a compelling read that rarely let's go and the cliche of hard to put down.

Great book!, 22 Jan 2006
This is a great book, in which Ronnie O'Sullivan tells the reader everything about his childhood, how he began his snooker career, and especially his depression and drug abuse.
It is a book which shows how to turn your life around, and how to become a winner again.

The best book of the 1990's - hear it in full, 12 Jun 2001
Hornby pinpoints 1968 as his formative year--the year he turned 11, the year his parents separated, and the year his father first took him to watch Arsenal play. The author quickly moved 'way beyond fandom' into an extreme obsession that has dominated his life, loves, and relationships. His father had initially hoped that Saturday afternoon matches would draw the two closer together, but instead Hornby became completely besotted with the game at the expense of any conversation: 'Football may have provided us with a new medium through which we could communicate, but that was not to say that we used it, or what we chose to say was necessarily positive.' Girlfriends also played second fiddle to one ball and 11 men. He fantasizes that even if a girlfriend 'went into labour at an impossible moment' he would not be able to help out until after the final whistle.

Fever Pitch is not a typical memoir - there are no chapters, just a series of match reports falling into three time frames (childhood, young adulthood, manhood). While watching the May 2, 1972, Reading v. Arsenal match, it became embarrassingly obvious to the then 15-year-old that his white, suburban, middle-class roots made him a wimp with no sense of identity: 'Yorkshire men, Lancastrians, Scots, the Irish, blacks, the rich, the poor, even Americans and Australians have something they can sit in pubs and bars and weep about.' But a boy from Maidenhead could only dream of coming from a place with 'its own tube station and West Indian community and terrible, insoluble social problems.'

Fever Pitch reveals the very special intricacies of British football, which readers new to the game will find astonishing, and which Hornby presents with remarkable humour and honesty-the 'unique' chants sung at matches, the cold rain-soaked terraces, giant cans of warm beer, the trains known as football specials carrying fans to and from matches in prison like conditions, bottles smashing on the tracks, thousands of policemen waiting in anticipation for the cargo of hooligans. The sport and one team in particular have crept into every aspect of Hornby's life--making him see the world through Arsenal-tinted spectacles

Hornby's Fever Pitch is the Remembrance of Things Past of soccer writing. Like Proust, Hornby has a brilliant feel for the way many of life's profounder moments are filtered through the mundane. Hornby has gone on to greater fame as a novelist, the author of High Fidelity and About a Boy. But his subject in the novels remains the same as in this soccer memoir: men who view their whole life through the prism of their obsession. And Hornby's obsession is soccer.

From the first sentence, we understand it's a love affair: 'I fell in love with football as I was later to fall in love with women: suddenly, inexplicably, uncritically, giving no thought to the pain or disruption it would bring.' 'Uncritically' seems to be laying it on a bit thick, though. Each chapter in the book is built around the match that Hornby attended that week. Every detail of Hornby's life from age 11 to 34 is scrutinized through the lens of his unwavering support for Arsenal, a powerhouse London team. When his parents split up, all his dad can offer to interrupt the long, silent weekends is a trip to the match. Young Nick clings to the sport and the team as the only thing that makes sense in his world.

Hornby's strength is his ability to render all of life's moments as reflected through the triumphs and disappointments - mostly the disappointments - of the Arsenal eleven. He acknowledges that his support of Arsenal is the longest, most meaningful relationship he has had in his life. Fever Pitch is Hornby's attempt to understand his own life, and he realizes that this effort would be shallow and disingenuous if he didn't view his life in terms of that relationship.

So, even as he contemplates marriage, we find him fretting over the fortunes of the team. As he tries to quit smoking, we watch him struggle to make it through close matches at the end of the season without lighting up. He freely admits that the start of the Gulf War, which was announced on the scoreboard during a pivotal match with Everton, took a back seat to Arsenal's 1-0 win. Hornby's viewing his entire existence through soccer does not diminish the events of his life. Instead, his memories register all that much more crisply because they pack the emotive force of a well-struck ball hitting the back of the net.

Always pleasing, 26 Nov 2007
Tim Moore has produced a book that makes you laugh out loud yet again.

This one is slightly different as you suspect Moore had started to lose his mind before he even began his journey - the Tour de France route without even a modicum of serious training??? His stories of past tour riders demonstrates a genuine interest in his subject but his insane antics when attempting to emulate them suggests a man with very little reserves in the sanity store....

This book is, as always, a highly enjoyable (and individualistic) addition to the travel books of recent years. Forget Bryson, read Moore!

A good read but not as funny as many claim, 09 Oct 2007
I bought this book and started reading with anticipation. It is generally quite interesting, and does contain many amusing incidents, but I would certainly not describe the book as "laugh out loud funny". There is no doubting Moore's achievement in following much of the Tour route, and he does have a perceptive eye for the idiosyncracies of the French. I would class this as a holiday read, it doesn't overly tax the brain, it's funny in places, but could never be described as great literature. I would recommend it to read, and have no regrets about having bought it, but you will make your own mind up whether it deserves the hilarious plaudits it has been given.

Great for Tour de France fans, 18 Feb 2007
I have been lucky enough to follow a few Tours in my life usually on my own and on a motorbike with very little luggage and this book reminds me of the emotions I went through on those journeys. There was none of the pain obviously, but the scenery and constant weather watching brings it all back. The villages he describes come alive for one day in the year just because this amazing event is passing through. Until you've been up Ventoux, it's hard to imagine how anyone could cycle up it after being in the saddle all day but the author's references to the late Tom Simpson was also poignant reminding us of how he died 40 years ago on that mountain. This book is funny, descriptive and a great read for anyone who is in awe of cycling as I am and for someone who has never really ridden a bike before, I think he did rather well. Who cares if he cheated? All he did was face the stark realisation that the men who compete in the Tour de France are totally dedicated sportsmen with a passion most of us will never know.

Amusing in places, but wordy writing style, 01 Jan 2007
I'm afraid I didn't find this book particularly funny and came to dislike Moore's wordy, over-descriptive writing style; like one reviewer said, it tends to hide the meaning or intent of what he is trying to say. And were his experiences as really as entertaining as he makes out, or has he taken artistic license a bit too far?

I thought the most interesting bits were the anecdotes about past Tours, including Paul Kimmage's experiences, though these became less frequent in the latter half of the book.

Another star is lost because he didn't ride the whole route, as the book's title implies.

Larry David on a bike, 27 Aug 2006
Moore is a talented writer and in the space of 280 pages manages to give a pointed critique on the absurdities of the French; provide overwhelming proof that the word "exercise" for the over 30's is actually an abbreviation of the term "exercise in futility"; and, most impressive of all, comes perilously close to getting himself divorced.

My favourite bit in the book comes on the road to Evian. When Moore meets a couple who complain about how cold it is, he comments, with intentional vulgarity, that he's sure they can think of others ways of warming themselves up. Delighted with this, he cycles off only to become aghast when it finally dawns on him that they are not actually a couple but brother and sister. Initially repentant, Moore concludes that:

"my veiled accusation might indeed have forestalled an incestuous atrocity: they wore the same clothes, after all, and rode the same bikes - and, let's face it, there's no smoke without fire."

A witty and irreverent travelogue.

a page turner, 04 May 2008
I caught half the documentary on the BBC, and was captivated, until I finally got hold of the book. I could not put it down until the last page was read at 2 in the morning.
There is not much which has not been said most eloquently in some of the other reviews, so I wont try it. But for me the fascinating thing was the nature of the voice which kept on pushing him to continue against all odds. Where do these phenomena come from, when we go beyond convention and conception? He never questions it, but in a matter of fact tells the story of a most extraordinary defiance of death. He was truly touched by grace and I love to buy him a pint if ever I get up to Sheffield....
Truly inspirational, I recomend this as imperative reading for anybody who is dealing with a life threatening disease or other circumstances. Such a fountain of inspiration to not give up...whatever

Better than the film!, 05 Mar 2008
Still immensely powerful 21 years after the event. I read this book 10 years ago and it inspired me to walk the Huayhuash Circuit last year

A Testimony Of Supreme Endurance., 14 Jan 2008
Upon completion of this book you'll still be wondering just how Joe Simpson survived this terrible ordeal. All the odds were against him. And after receiving his injury at such an early and hazardous stage of the decent, it's all too easy to think that Simpson should have gone down in the history books as just another victim of mountaineering disasters. Death defying is the only way to summarize this journey that Simpson eloquently depicts. No review can do justice to this great story that must be read first hand. It's one of my favourites. And you'll be hard-pressed to put this book down once you've picked it up.

Gut wrenching, 14 Nov 2007
I don't know much about climbing and never wanted to. I read this book because I was dragged to see the film Touching the Void by a friend, and came out exhilarated and traumatised in equal measure. The book, which came first, is very similar. It's a total roller coaster ride, telling a true story of a horrific climbing disaster in such a way as to make it the most compelling thing you can imagine, even if, like me, true stories and sporting tales are not your thing. Joe Simpson and his friend and climbing partner tackle a terrifically difficult mountain in the Himalayas. Used only to European mountains, they wildly underestimate their ability and their experience and things go badly wrong. That they survive is clear. Simpson writes his own story. How they survive is part of what makes the story so miraculous.

just read it, 01 Nov 2007
This book is the only book I have read in less than 36 hours. Not for its simplicity as its wonderfully crafted. It is so compelling, I could do nothing else until I finished it!

The story of Joe's brush with death and Simon's fear of leaving him is a miraculous tale of human endeavor, courage, compassion, skill and bravery. It points out that being brave isn't about not getting scared, but doing it anyway.

He can write them but he can't tell them......., 21 Jan 2008
Unfortunately Ricky has made a serious error of judgement in narrating his own book - it just doesn't work.

The book itself is witty, full of enough anecdotes and one-liners to detract from the constant references to Liverpool FC, and Ricky himself is a very talented actor, and an excellent after-dinner speaker and raconteur.

But this does not translate to the smoothness of narration required for any audiobook - the audience is not able to see facial expressions and hand gestures whilst settling back after a Sports Dinner, but is more likely to be someone on a long journey, or maybe stuck in a traffic jam, or to have a sight problem which prohibits them from reading the book.

Ricky's delivery is stilted, the timing is out, and the overall impression is one of hearing a monologue delivered by someone reading one word at a time from an autocue moving at an intermittent pace. This is unfortunate, because a lot of the material has the potential to be very amusing, if only it was presented and delivered by someone with timing and voice variation.

The book is a buy, the CD audiobook is poor.

Football My Arse: , 08 Jul 2006
Ricky Tomlinson is probably Famous as both the lazy father of the family in "The Royles" (Jim Royle) and as the last Manager to give a team Talk in the changing rooms at Wembley before it was knocked down and rebuilt. as Mike Bassett. Directly because of this, there are several references to the fictional England Manager in this book. Perhpas too many.
Nevertheless, This book contains some of the most amuzing and hilarious stories from "the beautiful game" itself, some of which have now surely gone down in football folklore. Not only are there crazy stories from these shores, but from overseas. Stories from deep in the game's past, and some of the more recent Howlers. (Peter Enckelman, anyone?)
Some of the witty remarks included also help the book in its comedic cause (Football my Arsene, and football my Farce Being two good examples)
This book is surely one of the most amuzing football books ever written, better than anything that has gone before it. Whilst on the subject, I recomend "David Seaman's Goalkeeping Nihgtmares" on DVD. Some of the things menioned in this book appear on the DVD.

A Very Funny Book, 24 Jun 2006
This is a very funny book of football anecdotes and for those of us of certain age brings back memories of certain players. In fact, some of the names go back even further than I do.

Ricky Tomlinson is the ideal man to compile this book. Certainly for me while reading the book I had this picture in my mind of Ricky with his heavy Liverpool accent telling these stories down at the local and having everyone in stitches.

Here are a couple of one liners from the book. There are hundreds of them:

Malcolm Allison: "Our 'keeper Joe Corrigan many be concussed, but it's difficult to tell with him as he always looks a bit dopey."

David Beckham: "My parents have always been there for me, ever since I was about seven."

Many of the anecdotes are several pages long but there is also a good assortment of one liners, like those above. Gaffs from players, managers and commentators alike.

If you are a football fan, you can't help but love this one.

I was disappointed..., 12 Mar 2006
This book does contain some amusing and bizarre footballing stories, don't get me wrong. But for every genuinely funny moment there are 5 or 6 references by the author to his own alter-ego Mike Basset, his home in Liverpool and just Liverpool Football Club in general.

If these consistent references had any substance to them, then this book might well be a fantastic compendium of footballing trivialities. But none of them go anywhere, most ending abruptly in some witless, throw-away comment. I can't help but feel that it is dragged a long way down by Tomlinson's peculiar fondness of himself.

My advice is save your money, don't go for this one. Unless you want to buy my copy on the cheap, that is ;)

"I can still see, in my mind's eye, that slight, impish figure whose bewitching talent and pace, whether in the red of Manchester United or the green of Northern Ireland, reduced the best defences to confusion and to rubble."

George Best, of course, an example, if one were needed, that Brian Moore possesses one of the most evocative voices in sport. His spare phrasing and melodic tones have infused the game of football for so long that it is hard to imagine a domestic season or international competition without his sound.

Here he recalls the great games and the stars that he has brought alive for us during an unparalleled television and radio career. From the 1966 World Cup final, through On the Ball and The BigMatch, to France '98, his sense of humour and humility enrich a remarkable personal and professional history.

For the first time, he shares behind-the-scenes stories of colleagues and stars--Jimmy Hill, Brian Clough and Kevin Keegan among them--and looks ahead to the future for television and his beloved football.

The warm-honeyed voice, with its faint Kentish burr, has been an integral part of British sporting life for more than 30 years, and this is a welcome chance to hear the man himself reflect on a life behind the microphone. --Alex Hankin

Great Woman, Great Book!, 27 Mar 2006
I had seen some news reports of what she had been doing which is what prompted me to buy this book, and its excellant. She tells her story in such a way that you feel that you are sat with her witnessing everything. Couple of the chapters are long which meant people only got grunts out of me for long periods of time. I think the glossary at the back of the book is a cracking idea as even the simple sailing terms i didnt know, so this i found very useful. Great read!

Great Girl...........Brilliant Book, 18 Oct 2005
As a sailor myself, I can understand the emotional rollercoaster Ellen experienced during her time at sea. The book not only gives an insight into what inspired her to sail but also how tough going the days at sea were. I could not put the book down from the minute i started to read it to the end.

This book is truely sensationl and inspiring. It is a must read and i guarantee anyone who reads this book will feel the same.

Great Girl...........Brilliant Book, 18 Oct 2005
As a sailor myself, I can understand the emotional rollercoaster Ellen experienced during her time at sea. The book not only gives an insight into what inspired her to sail but also how tough going the days at sea were. I could not put the book down from the minute i started to read it to the end.

This book is truely sensationl and inspiring. It is a must read and i guarantee anyone who reads this book will feel the same.

An emotional adventure, 30 Dec 2004
This is a well structured and entertaining story. I got enough insight into Ellen as a person, to really be gripped by the ups and downs of the great voyage - even though I knew the ending.

I listened to Ellen reading her story as I painted the outside of the house, balanced on a ladder. It certainly put the little heart stopping moments when my ladder wobbled, into perspective!

Although Ellen is not an actress she still puts enough personal feeling into the reading to more than makes up for that.

Read it, or listen to it, and it will put British winter weather into perspective!

An inspiration to me!, 01 Nov 2004
This book was totally awesome and I didn't want to put it down! I loved reading every page, hearing of Ellen's adventures and also the emotions which we're very real and which I could relate too!I wish her the best in everything she does, she's been an inspiration to me!

Ronnie the crack fiend., 18 Mar 2008
Its sad to see such a talent showing, quite unscrupulously, how to smoke crack on the front covers of his audio cd's, books and personalised tobacco tins.

Its said that he has cigarettes inserted in his snooker cue butt so he can quickley relieve the craving.

Anyway enough of the 'legend', lets review the audio cd...

In true unabridged style we find that ronnie stll has trouble reading. At first, i thought the long, pregnant pauses were for tension. I soon realised that it was one of the sound engineers whispering to Ronnie "a-p-p-l-e" as he had trouble reading of the juicy fruit.

Ronnie is very frank about his addictions. He describes the lengths he would go to to get a hit of smack "i would wait all night outside snooker halls in London with my cue between my legs. Sooner or later a punter would pull up and ask what i was offering. It soon got about that i was a good teacher of deep screw"

All in all this audio cd nagged at the purest in me. I'd have much prefered it if it had been read by Brian Blessed or Simon Callow.



Ronnie simply a 'genius' , 09 May 2007
Ronnie's autobiography was a pleasure to read. He has gone through high's and lows in life and makes you wonder some of the things he has been through is quite extraordinary. Ronnie is something special not just as a snooker player but he truly is a great person. Wish him all the best.

Kind regards

Sonia


Ronnie O'Sullivan's Autobiography, 22 Jun 2006
This Book is one of the best Autobiography's I have read it is a compelling read and it never gets boring. It shows you how difficult his life was with his farther and being overweight and addicted to drugs, In this book he gets over all of his addictions and now is one of the best if not the Best Snooker player in the World. He has a frail relationship between him and his farther, they had there ups and there downs but they love each other and that is all that matters. This book shows how much pressure a world champion has. This is an excellent read and it is amazing considering how much hurt Ronnie went through to still become the best snooker player of all time.

Gripping until the end, 02 Feb 2006
Ronnie has been one of my all time heroes in the snooker game and I suppose that helps when reading an autobiography.
Without doubt, he's the best player ever to pick up a cue...his amazing talent perhaps hasn't been fulfilled though until he surpasses the records of Hendry and Davies-or at least matches them.

In this book, it's obvious O'Sullivan is a troubled sole-something he admits quite freely throughout. It makes compelling reading, rather than beating an opponent at snooker there is more of a battle with himself. His depression, being overweight and drug abuse make you want to read this and cling on until the end.
The chapter where he reveals his opinion on the top players in the game (Williams, Hendry, Davies etc) is an excellent inclusion and is almost a relief part after all the hard hitting first chapters.
His relationship with his Father is evident...they didn't see eye to eye but he loves him.
It's a compelling read that rarely let's go and the cliche of hard to put down.

Great book!, 22 Jan 2006
This is a great book, in which Ronnie O'Sullivan tells the reader everything about his childhood, how he began his snooker career, and especially his depression and drug abuse.
It is a book which shows how to turn your life around, and how to become a winner again.

The best book of the 1990's - hear it in full, 12 Jun 2001
Hornby pinpoints 1968 as his formative year--the year he turned 11, the year his parents separated, and the year his father first took him to watch Arsenal play. The author quickly moved 'way beyond fandom' into an extreme obsession that has dominated his life, loves, and relationships. His father had initially hoped that Saturday afternoon matches would draw the two closer together, but instead Hornby became completely besotted with the game at the expense of any conversation: 'Football may have provided us with a new medium through which we could communicate, but that was not to say that we used it, or what we chose to say was necessarily positive.' Girlfriends also played second fiddle to one ball and 11 men. He fantasizes that even if a girlfriend 'went into labour at an impossible moment' he would not be able to help out until after the final whistle.

Fever Pitch is not a typical memoir - there are no chapters, just a series of match reports falling into three time frames (childhood, young adulthood, manhood). While watching the May 2, 1972, Reading v. Arsenal match, it became embarrassingly obvious to the then 15-year-old that his white, suburban, middle-class roots made him a wimp with no sense of identity: 'Yorkshire men, Lancastrians, Scots, the Irish, blacks, the rich, the poor, even Americans and Australians have something they can sit in pubs and bars and weep about.' But a boy from Maidenhead could only dream of coming from a place with 'its own tube station and West Indian community and terrible, insoluble social problems.'

Fever Pitch reveals the very special intricacies of British football, which readers new to the game will find astonishing, and which Hornby presents with remarkable humour and honesty-the 'unique' chants sung at matches, the cold rain-soaked terraces, giant cans of warm beer, the trains known as football specials carrying fans to and from matches in prison like conditions, bottles smashing on the tracks, thousands of policemen waiting in anticipation for the cargo of hooligans. The sport and one team in particular have crept into every aspect of Hornby's life--making him see the world through Arsenal-tinted spectacles

Hornby's Fever Pitch is the Remembrance of Things Past of soccer writing. Like Proust, Hornby has a brilliant feel for the way many of life's profounder moments are filtered through the mundane. Hornby has gone on to greater fame as a novelist, the author of High Fidelity and About a Boy. But his subject in the novels remains the same as in this soccer memoir: men who view their whole life through the prism of their obsession. And Hornby's obsession is soccer.

From the first sentence, we understand it's a love affair: 'I fell in love with football as I was later to fall in love with women: suddenly, inexplicably, uncritically, giving no thought to the pain or disruption it would bring.' 'Uncritically' seems to be laying it on a bit thick, though. Each chapter in the book is built around the match that Hornby attended that week. Every detail of Hornby's life from age 11 to 34 is scrutinized through the lens of his unwavering support for Arsenal, a powerhouse London team. When his parents split up, all his dad can offer to interrupt the long, silent weekends is a trip to the match. Young Nick clings to the sport and the team as the only thing that makes sense in his world.

Hornby's strength is his ability to render all of life's moments as reflected through the triumphs and disappointments - mostly the disappointments - of the Arsenal eleven. He acknowledges that his support of Arsenal is the longest, most meaningful relationship he has had in his life. Fever Pitch is Hornby's attempt to understand his own life, and he realizes that this effort would be shallow and disingenuous if he didn't view his life in terms of that relationship.

So, even as he contemplates marriage, we find him fretting over the fortunes of the team. As he tries to quit smoking, we watch him struggle to make it through close matches at the end of the season without lighting up. He freely admits that the start of the Gulf War, which was announced on the scoreboard during a pivotal match with Everton, took a back seat to Arsenal's 1-0 win. Hornby's viewing his entire existence through soccer does not diminish the events of his life. Instead, his memories register all that much more crisply because they pack the emotive force of a well-struck ball hitting the back of the net.

Always pleasing, 26 Nov 2007
Tim Moore has produced a book that makes you laugh out loud yet again.

This one is slightly different as you suspect Moore had started to lose his mind before he even began his journey - the Tour de France route without even a modicum of serious training??? His stories of past tour riders demonstrates a genuine interest in his subject but his insane antics when attempting to emulate them suggests a man with very little reserves in the sanity store....

This book is, as always, a highly enjoyable (and individualistic) addition to the travel books of recent years. Forget Bryson, read Moore!

A good read but not as funny as many claim, 09 Oct 2007
I bought this book and started reading with anticipation. It is generally quite interesting, and does contain many amusing incidents, but I would certainly not describe the book as "laugh out loud funny". There is no doubting Moore's achievement in following much of the Tour route, and he does have a perceptive eye for the idiosyncracies of the French. I would class this as a holiday read, it doesn't overly tax the brain, it's funny in places, but could never be described as great literature. I would recommend it to read, and have no regrets about having bought it, but you will make your own mind up whether it deserves the hilarious plaudits it has been given.

Great for Tour de France fans, 18 Feb 2007
I have been lucky enough to follow a few Tours in my life usually on my own and on a motorbike with very little luggage and this book reminds me of the emotions I went through on those journeys. There was none of the pain obviously, but the scenery and constant weather watching brings it all back. The villages he describes come alive for one day in the year just because this amazing event is passing through. Until you've been up Ventoux, it's hard to imagine how anyone could cycle up it after being in the saddle all day but the author's references to the late Tom Simpson was also poignant reminding us of how he died 40 years ago on that mountain. This book is funny, descriptive and a great read for anyone who is in awe of cycling as I am and for someone who has never really ridden a bike before, I think he did rather well. Who cares if he cheated? All he did was face the stark realisation that the men who compete in the Tour de France are totally dedicated sportsmen with a passion most of us will never know.

Amusing in places, but wordy writing style, 01 Jan 2007
I'm afraid I didn't find this book particularly funny and came to dislike Moore's wordy, over-descriptive writing style; like one reviewer said, it tends