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Sightlines
Sightlines
Oct 18, 2024 11:23 AM

Author:Simon Inglis

Sightlines

Simon Inglis is a fan with a mission. Fed up with being labelled an anorak, yet repeatedly led astray by the glimpse of a grandstand accross a crowded city, he searches the world for a deeper meaning behind his fascination with stadiums.

What is it, he asks en route from ancient Olympia to Sydney 2000, about men and neatly-edged turf? Why are there more football grounds in Buenos Aires than public libraries? Why do Auckland residents resent their local stadium while those in Chicago celebrate theirs? And what can we learn from the Indians, the Irish and a huckster from Huston?

The perfect companion volume to his bestselling books on football grounds, Sightlines is full of insight, wit, anecdotes and characters from a world beyond that every sports fan will recognise. It is proof that he is not alone.

Reviews

Another classic. A glorious stadium odyssey

—— Frank Keating , Guardian

Inglis is the spiritual leader for us poor souls who suffer a sinful quickening of the pulse when we see floodlights looming...in a curious love-song to the modern sporting arena...his journey is one that demands company

—— Irish Times

A terrific book, full of unexpected wisdom, unforced humour and unfeigned amazement. It will remind you of why you love sport and why you love live sport

—— Four Four Two

My own surprise of the year: reading, spellbound, at one sitting an unputdownable 400-page revelation - on snooker

—— Frank Keating , The Guardian

This exposé of the game's development and its somewhat Machiavellian underbelly is written with authority by esteemed commentator Clive Everton

—— Publishing News

The use of Clive Everton to present this insider's look at snooker's underbelly should ensure this is first choice of any snooker fan

—— The Bookseller

Imagine loafing in your favourite armchair, old mates around, beers and bites on hand, humour high, watching and discussing re-runs of memorable football matches. Sounds good, doesn't it? Well, it's not far off what you get with Dave Roberts' delightful homage to the beautiful game, and the part his life has played in it... A book full of the joys, miseries, near-misses, hopes, failures and fun of life, in this case a football obsessive's, but it's one we can all find something to identify with. A heart-warmer

—— Jon Wise , Book of the Week, Sunday Sport

Hugely enjoyable, poignant book... Dave Roberts' wonderful series of tales explain why every one of the programmes made it into the box; each is infused with a mixture of touching reminiscence or laugh-out-loud anecdote

—— Birmingham Post

Deliriously enjoyable... utterly engaging

—— Caroline Sanderson , The Bookseller

Nostalgically warm in its tender recall of the way things used to be, this is a book for the true football follower, whose life has been shaped by the game and doesn't mind admitting it

—— Duncan Hamilton, two-time winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award

Wonderful, hilarious and moving. 32 Programmes is not just a football memoir but a delicious slice of the 1960s and 1970s, a razor-sharp and achingly evocative social history. This brilliant memoir will resonate with all of us who have ever supported a football team, listened to music and fallen in love.

—— Charlie Connelly, author of Attention All Shipping

I loved this book. If you know a man in his forties or fifties, please give him this book

—— John Inverdale

A funny, charming and heart-warming tale of obsession

—— Nigel Walrond , Western Sunday Independent

I fail to believe that anyone who reads Dave Roberts' new book 32 Programmes cannot relate to his thinking as a football fan. It traces his life as a football fan through 32 chapters in his life, going into the bitter-sweet details of growing up in the 1970s and '80s via 32 football matches. Building on and around his first book, The Bromley Boys (soon to be released as a film, no less), Dave introduces us to his career, his attempts to find a soul mate and finally in a twist his life changing circumstances that will have you reaching for a tissue. If you read one new book on your holidays this summer, choose this one. And then you try and detail 10, let alone 32, games that mark the milestones in your life

—— The Ball is Round

Entertaining, heart-warming and expertly executed, this book is certain to strike a chord with anyone who's ever loved the game. Engrossing and enjoyable... funny and charming

—— Alistair Hunter , Two Banks of Four

An entertaining read, rich in nostalgia and reminiscent of Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch, this offers an insight into the power of obsession and how the beautiful game has changed. Moving and amusing

—— Sport magazine

Paul Hendrickson has another theme more interesting than Hemmingway's boat: the writers deadly effect on his sons

—— Peter Lewis , Daily Mail

This is a measured and thoughtful, sometimes lyrical book that adds considerably to the Papa story

—— Ronan Farren , Irish Independent

Hendrickson has a tremendous feel for Hemingway, as both writer and man; his own writing is vivid and personal... What he says about Hemingway is usually dead on target

—— Sarah Churchwell , Guardian

Hemingway's Boat... turns a seemingly trivial search for an old boat up on cinder blocks in a Havana yard and a potentially mawkish concentration on the latter end of a life into a powerful meditation on what made Hemingway tick and what made him great. Though one needs other books for the first 35 years of the life, it supersedes them all.

—— Brian Morton , Sunday Herald

Hendrickson has a fluent, engaging tone...he brings us closer to understanding Hemingway as a man who loved and lost - as opposed to the archtypal misogynist bully he is widely regarded as

—— Big Issue in the North

His life was spectacular, and, somehow, went spectacularly wrong. Hendrickson tells the story of the man and the boat, and the fish, and the women, and the writing. And then the moment when, at the age of 61, Hemingway woke up early one morning and shot himself. In the head. On purpose. Some story. Very well told

—— William Leith , Evening Standard

Rich, magisterial account...Other books on Hemingway have tended to focus on his post-1930s literary decline and his machismo. The portrait that emerges from these pages is altogether more human

—— Ed Caesar , Sunday Times

He has a tremendous feel for Hemingway, as both writer and man

—— Sarah Churchwell , Guardian

This is a portrait of the author which is likely to leave one feeling more warmly disposed towards him

—— Herald

More a portrait than a biography, this book is a dazzling late example of "New Journalism"...the result is touching, revelatory and utterly absorbing

—— Independent

Unmissable

—— The Lady

While much of Hemingway’s life may have been hellish, Hendrickson’s writing is a delight. A fine work

—— Fachtna Kelly , Sunday Business Post

Very well told

—— William Leith , Scotsman

An album of fascinating snapshots of Hemingway

—— Simon Shaw , Mail on Sunday

Paul Hendrickson writes with a great deal of passion…

—— Nudge

A terrific and fresh approach to the man

—— Daniel Woodrell , Financial Times
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