Book Review: Fever Pitch

Nick Hornby states that Fever Pitch "is a product of a time when I didn't know what I was doing with my life. Football became a security blanket. When I look back I think the book was conceived as an explanation for that sort of obsession and maleness." 1

The autobiography chronicles a fans obsession with Arsenal Football Club. Sometimes nostalgic and passionate and sometimes frustrated and candid Nick Hornby looks back at the highs and lows of a teams disintegration and evolution throughout their history. Written in an atypical style, Hornby structures his book though match reports falling into three time frames; childhood, adolescence and finally manhood.

Filled with themes of love, politics, family, adolescence and belonging. Hornby does not just convey the momentous occasions but the humiliations, disappoints and failings. His life is interwoven with the clubs misfortunes, predestined and at times uncontrollable. “I have measured out my life in Arsenal problems”.2

Where this memoir succeeds is in Hornby’s awareness of his reader, he does not alienate other supporters, he does not rant about his annoyance or hatred of other teams. Readers can almost see a glimpse of themselves within his writing. Damian Cannon reinforces this notion, “his writing mirrors the experience of a million kids”3

Fever Pitch has been branded the first of its kind. It gave birth to a new genre, which exploded onto the scene in the 1990’s. Dubbed the ‘new sports writing’, the genre negotiates the familiar in an innovative and refreshing manner by tapping into the sports culture and producing vivid portrayals. Fever Pitch was released in a time when sport was facing a renovation of sorts. The 1990’s saw the evolution of ‘the new man’, one which was communicative, and of course the growth of sports supplements and fanzines including ‘When Saturday Comes’ which was established in 1986 offering a refreshing perspective.

Like the fanzines Fever Pitch showed “that ‘fanatical’ devotion to a soccer team was not synonymous with illiteracy, racism, and hooliganism”.4 Instead this ‘new’ outlook was able to restructure sports writing. The fans viewpoint is seen as more reliable and accessible to the reader as it is unlike many “stale sensational tabloid reportage and ‘ghosted’ autobiographies that had been the stock in-trade accompaniment of the game for many years.”(Hill, 2002)5 Instead a sense of passion combined with a pioneering style was formed. This led to a genre, which could allow for great discussions and allowed for a broad array of similar formats including hooligan confessional stories like John King’s ‘The Football Factory’. It has become apparent through the release of such books that the face of sports writing is in a transition; we are experiencing a golden age of sorts.

Football is embedded in history; emphatic wins, the disappointment of losing, FA Cup wins, European Cup wins, and World Cups. ‘The wonderful game’ has fashioned itself into a global phenomenon, supporters put great emotional investment into their team, which through time has enabled the game to evolve into a common language, breaking down barriers of age, race, class, nationality and gender. Sport shapes and is shaped by society and identity. It is now invading areas of life when previously it had no presence; it now refuses to be departmentalised.

It is inevitable that the book will appeal most prominently to football fans, as like all books Fever Pitch has a target audience. However the memoir succeeds in transcending the bounds of football and does not isolate its reader by only appealing to male football fanatics but instead it is able to adapt to various demographics. This is in part due to its ‘everyman’ approach.

Everyone has preoccupations, which control their lives, Hornby’s is football. Its adaptability seems to stem from Hornby's ability to inextricably link football with real life; he somehow makes them one and the same, if one fails, as does the other.
“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 with it.” 6

While Hornby succeeds in many aspects to broaden his readership, at times the obscure references may alienate a less informed reader. Nevertheless football has become so all-pervasive in our culture that it is unlikely to marginalize a reader to a large degree. The book works, as Roger Ebert iterates “we know these people we dated these people. We are these people.”7

Steve Redhead states that “this is a rapidly shrinking, mediatised globe”8 which involves the idea that the world has shrunk and so has led to a world audience. Therefore universal themes are vital for the success of books. Fever Pitch succeeds in adhereing to this as it conveys with great clarity the trials and tribulations of life in a football setting. The books global appeal is evident through its transition into a film starring Colin Firth in 1997. Not only does it appeal then to the English public but also it has worldwide appeal. In 2005 the book was reworked into another movie production concerning baseball, thus being more appealing for an American audience.

“Sport is not a metaphor for the rest of life, it is indivisible from the rest of life. That’s its magic. It is not a description of something; it is, simply, what it is, in the same way that sex, food and washing-up are what they are. It exists to be experienced- its pleasures, its pains, its ironies, its tragedies and its comedies.”(Coleman and Hornby, 1996)9 That is the essence of new sports writing and that is the essence of Fever Pitch. It conveys a modernisation of writing; confessional, revealing and passionate. Fever Pitch merely presents a life consumed by football.

Hornby does not criticise or pass judgement thus isolating the readership. He does not shy away from politics and events which changed the face of football like Heysel and Hillsborough, he merely describes situations from his viewpoint. Hornby has shown that literature and sport are not exclusive; they can blend and produce an insightful product. Hornby’s writing is not restricted, but humorous, uplifting and genuine.

1 http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Lot/9482/fpitch/articles/age2.html
2 Extract taken from Fever Pitch
3 http://www.film.u-net.com/Movies/Reviews/Fever_Pitch.html
4 http://www.elt.britcoun.org.pl/s_lang.htm
5 Hill, J (2002) Sport, Leisure and Culture in Twentieth Century Britain- State and Politics in Sport and Leisure. Palgrave.
6 Extract taken from Fever Pitch
7 http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050407/REVIEWS/50323004
8 Steve Redhead, Hit and Tell Essay on the Soccer Hooligan Memoir
9 Coleman, N, Hornby, N. (1996) The Picador Book of Sports Writing- Introduction. Macmillan Publishers ltd.