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44 reviews for:
The Miracle of Castel Di Sangro: A Tale of Passion and Folly in the Heart of Italy
Joe McGinniss
4.1 AVERAGE
44 reviews for:
The Miracle of Castel Di Sangro: A Tale of Passion and Folly in the Heart of Italy
Joe McGinniss
4.1 AVERAGE
This book would have warranted a higher rating if not for the ignorance of the author in how he handled the last week in Italy. He did a great job of promoting and reinforcing the stereotype of the 'ugly American' overseas, and fails to retain an image of himself as the only upright citizen involved. Great book, brutal ending.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
funny
inspiring
medium-paced
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
A super interesting non-fiction Italian football (a/k/a soccer) story. It is well written but there too much focus on the author instead of the players, the sport and the life of the game.
Unfortunately, the author made himself an important character in his own book. And, I'm not really crazy about the author. For example, in one small section the author is writing about one of the players and show remarkable insensitivity about the player's wife's mental health: "I felt bad for her, but also bad that my friend Antonello was married to a walking side effect."
Ok Antonello, not Antonello's wife, is his "friend" but his lack of real empathy in this situation and others in the book just kept popping up and making the book harder to enjoy.
Unfortunately, the author made himself an important character in his own book. And, I'm not really crazy about the author. For example, in one small section the author is writing about one of the players and show remarkable insensitivity about the player's wife's mental health: "I felt bad for her, but also bad that my friend Antonello was married to a walking side effect."
Ok Antonello, not Antonello's wife, is his "friend" but his lack of real empathy in this situation and others in the book just kept popping up and making the book harder to enjoy.
2.5 stars.
This book should've been called Joe McGinniss Goes to Italy So That Joe McGinniss Can Talk to Italians and Report on how They React to Joe McGinniss by Joe McGinniss.
A really great sports story is hidden somewhere in these 404 pages, but I'd forgive you if you missed it. McGinniss spends most of the book arguing with the coach about tactics (even though he knows nothing about soccer), claiming that he's as close to the team as if they were family (even though a player's son says his father won't talk to McGinniss because he's an idiot), and provoking the local organized crime bosses for no apparent reason. To the writer's credit (I guess), he is the one telling us what a jackass he is. But he can't possibly comprehend how badly he comes off, and as a protagonist for this story he is profoundly uninteresting.
The drama of the soccer makes the book readable by itself (although it's so obvious that McGinniss doesn't know the game that it lends an unreliability to even the most basic reporting), but mostly I found myself annoyed. I will say, without being too spoiler-heavy, that there is more of an ending to the McGinniss-centric narrative than I would've thought possible, which redeemed the self-centered style somewhat. Not nearly enough.
This book should've been called Joe McGinniss Goes to Italy So That Joe McGinniss Can Talk to Italians and Report on how They React to Joe McGinniss by Joe McGinniss.
A really great sports story is hidden somewhere in these 404 pages, but I'd forgive you if you missed it. McGinniss spends most of the book arguing with the coach about tactics (even though he knows nothing about soccer), claiming that he's as close to the team as if they were family (even though a player's son says his father won't talk to McGinniss because he's an idiot), and provoking the local organized crime bosses for no apparent reason. To the writer's credit (I guess), he is the one telling us what a jackass he is. But he can't possibly comprehend how badly he comes off, and as a protagonist for this story he is profoundly uninteresting.
The drama of the soccer makes the book readable by itself (although it's so obvious that McGinniss doesn't know the game that it lends an unreliability to even the most basic reporting), but mostly I found myself annoyed. I will say, without being too spoiler-heavy, that there is more of an ending to the McGinniss-centric narrative than I would've thought possible, which redeemed the self-centered style somewhat. Not nearly enough.
To paraphrase Bill Shankley, football is more than simply a matter of life and death. The Miracle assures us that 'il calcio' is more than even that. A fairy tale that was with an ending that could have been.
What this book is best at is capturing the feeling of enthusiasm of what it's like to be a (sports) fan. Why this works so well is that McGinnis reminds us at times that he's only been a soccer fan for a short period of time. He seems to marvel at how absurd his new enthusiasm is. Authority and knowledge of a subject/activity/hobby/interest is not directly tied to how much fun you can have with it.