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| Subtitle | An Unlikely Theory of Globalization |
| First Written | 2004 |
| Genre | Nonfiction |
| Origin | US |
| Publisher | HarperPerennial |
| ISBN-10 | 0061978051 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0061978050 |
| My Copy | paperback |
| First Read | March 08, 2022 |
How Soccer Explains the World
Weird: This is the second book in a row I've read that has scenes set in Kiev and Lviv, weirdly timed for this current month when Russia-invades-Ukraine is the only thing on the news. The other was a medieval travelogue adventure story, the Long Ships!
Noted on March 8, 2022
A series of globe-trotting essays about soccer. It's less an actual argument about globalization and more the author's project of 'lets get the magazine to pay me to go to soccer games all over the world and write articles.' But fun!
Noted on March 8, 2022
To understand the importance of refereeing requires a brief word on the paradox of Italian soccer. As everyone knows, Italian men are the most foppish representatives of their sex on the planet. They smear on substantial quantities of hair care products and expend considerable mental energies color-coordinating socks with belts. Because of their dandyism, the world has Vespa, Prada, and Renzo Piano. With such theological devotion to aesthetic pleasure, it is truly perplexing that their national style of soccer should be so devoid of this quality.
Quoted on March 8, 2022