Synopses & Reviews
Simon Kuper's
New York Times bestseller
Soccernomics pioneered a new way of looking at soccer through meticulous empirical analysis and incisive and witty commentary. Kuper now leaves the numbers and data behind to explore the heart and soul of the worlds most popular sport in the new, extraordinarily revealing
Soccer Men.
Soccer Men goes behind the scenes with soccer's greatest players and coaches. Inquiring into the genius and hubris of the modern game, Kuper details the lives of giants such as Arsène Wenger, Jose Mourinho, Jorge Valdano, Lionel Messi, Kaká, and Didier Drogba, describing their upbringings, the soccer cultures they grew up in, the way they play, and the baggage they bring to their relationships at work.
From one of the great sportswriters of our time, Soccer Men is a penetrating and surprising anatomy of the figures that define modern soccer.
Review
"Kuper always listens, but only rarely quotes verbatim. The [athlete] is a subject rather than a talking head. This approach produces an excellent result...his sureness of purpose allows him to devote his energies to producing something regularly insightful and sometimes very, very funny."
The Herald (UK)
Review
"Soccer fans and fans of sharp writing and quick, dead-on profiles can be grateful that Kuper didn't earlier tire of the chase."
The Boston Globe
Review
"[S]prightly, skeptical, and vastly informative... Style, in soccer as in prose, is less the product of 'personal expression' than of poise, discipline, patience, and infinite care....Watching Messi or Lampard (or any of the players included in Soccer Men) after reading Kuper is a bit like going back to Shakespeare's sonnets after reading Helen Vendler's book on them. He turns us into more alert, more intelligent, more grateful spectators of the beautiful game."
The New Yorker, Book Bench Blog
Review
"Kuper's effortless wit and keen sense of irony make Soccer Men well worth the read."
Mother Jones
Review
"Simon Kuper's new book, Soccer Men, gains insight into the personalities of some of soccer's most important players and coaches with a few extras from outside the sport thrown in....Kuper is a rare breed of writer. His international upbringing conditioned his understanding of variety in the world's most popular sport. His soccer networks across national boundaries and his access inside the game are impressive. There is no better anthropologist's eye analyzing the game today."
Alan Black, San Francisco Chronicle
Review
"Hot on the excitement over the 2011 women's World Cup comes Kuper's latest soccer gem...Kuper's easy interview style hides few flaws and creates some memorable moments....Kuper is one of the world's leading soccer authors, which reinforces the highly recommended verdict here. With appeal beyond soccer fans."
Library Journal
Synopsis
In his national bestseller,
Soccernomics, Simon Kuper pioneered a new way of looking at soccer, the world's most popular game, through his witty and meticulous use of data. In
Soccer Men, Kuper explores the heart and soul of the sport by getting up close and personal with soccer's greatest players and coaches. An inquiry into the genius and hubris of the modern game,
Soccer Men details the lives of international stars such as Arsène Wenger, Jose Mourinho, Josep Guardiola, Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney, and David Beckham, describing their upbringings, the soccer cultures they grew up in, the way they play or coach, and the baggage they bring to their relationships at work.
In this updated edition, Kuper profiles Hope Solo, Raymond Domenech, Andrea Agnelli, Robin van Persie, Carlo Ancelotti, and more. He also provides a brilliant comparison of two tales of immigrant life: Philip Roth's Portnoy's Complaint and the autobiography of Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
About the Author
Simon Kuper is one of the world's leading writers on soccer. The winner of the William Hill Prize for sports book of the year in Britain, Kuper writes a weekly column for the Financial Times. He lives in Paris.