Most of the books published about soccer are “ghostwritten” and “nonfiction” and really just awful former player and coach autobiographies meant to turn a dime off the fame-game. Even if you are an obsessive fanboy, absorbing new, gratuitous details on a decade-old, petulant dispute can be tiring. Even worse are the faux-transfer rumors like “Iniesta almost went to Scotland” which nobody cared about in the past and we don’t give a shit about now either. In a just world, the paper in these books would be used to wipe needy Third-World butts.
However, usually 4-5 times a year, an acquisitions editor will put his or her neck on the line and convince a publisher to do a soccer book worth reading. The editor will lose his or her job eventually, but, we, the readers, profit handsomely and get a fun, engaging read.
1. American Huckster
Rumors about player transfers are boring and faux-factual, but the inner details on Chuck Blazer’s life should satiate your prurient, rich-gazing lusts. Mary Papenfuss and Teri Thompson have done for this FIFA chrony what MTV Cribs did for washed up MTV Cribs appointed celebrities: given us sultry details we didn’t know we needed.
2. The Turbulent World of Middle Eastern Soccer
You know the quality of a journalist’s work by how many times he or she has been sued in a foreign court. Last I checked, James Dorsey’s case in Singapore was still on appeal after he revealed some graft and pissed off the locals, so he’s a man to be feared and read. His blog was and is amazing. Read this book before it gets banned in a few countries.
