The essence of the book is captured in the following. After Arsenal lost the FA Cup final against Ipswich in 1978: "... to them (the business types), it really was only a game, and it probably did me good to spend time with people who behaved for all the world as if football were a diverting entertainment, like rugby or golf or cricket. It's not like that at all, of course, but just for an afternoon it was interesting and instructive to meet people who believed that it was." Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby is the search for an explanation of being an obsessive football fan. This search results in a brilliant book. Although not all football supporters are as obsessive as Hornby (some are even more obsessive), the vast majority will recognize the emotions that drive them to support a team fanatically and to remember the numerous, useless details about teams and matches. The (lack of) reason to do so will also apply to other sports like American Football, Baseball, Hockey, and Basketball. This book is a great self-analysis for all fanatic supporters of any sport worldwide and, if read by non-supporters, they can understand or at least accept supporters' behavior a little better. With Arsenal taking many trophies in England during the last seasons with their impressive offense Bergkamp, Overmars and Anelka and the resulting general recognition that Arsenal is not at all boring, I am pretty sure that Hornby had (and continues to have) many ecstatic moments.

I assume this book would be a joyous, justifying experience for a devoted fan of any sport - "I'm not alone!" - and I can assure you that it's a fun, educational read for someone who has no interest in any sport. It's a look at the way fanship can be created by, and in turn create, a person's life, and as such should be required reading both for fans themselves and for the people who can't understand them. In other words, if you completely understand why an important win could turn your entire life around, or why you would have to miss your sister's wedding if it coincided with a game, Fever Pitch is for you. And if you don't understand this at all, the book is also for you.

Now, having said that, there are a few problems with this book for Americans who don't know much about football. (You know, soccer, not American rules football.) If you don't know thing one about the game, you can still read the book, but you won't understand big chunks of it. Hornby either never expected this book to be published in America, or he can't imagine an audience that isn't intimately familiar with football argot. (And, having read the book, I'm betting on the latter.) So you'll need either to read a book about football before you read Fever Pitch, or to have on call a person who knows football. As it happens, I had both. I read the decent book The Miracle of Castel Di Sangro before Fever Pitch, so I knew about, for example, relegation and promotion. And I happen to know a person who watches football. And still I didn't get everything; what the heck is the Arsenal offside trap? What was the Ibrox disaster? (Double whammy, since apparently it also happened before I was born.) What's the penalty spot? I don't know, and Hornby didn't take the time to tell me. So - not perhaps the best book to introduce you to football.

Still, this a fascinating book, a book that contains a wealth of self-knowledge for the obsessed and astonishing revelations for everyone else. Read it. If nothing else, you'll learn that the person in your life that you thought was as obsessed with team X as it is possible to be is merely a fly-by-night fan.

This is an incredible book. I picked it up because i've read Hornby's others (About A Boy, High Fidelity), and loved them. But admittedly, i was most interested because the guy i was dating at the time was obsessed with British Football, most notably Manchester United. I really don't know anything about soccer, so at first some things were hard to follow, but by the end of the book, i felt intimate with the team (nowhere near Hornby's obsession...obviously). i now check FC websites for updates as my local paper acts as though anything outside of Illinois doesn't exist. Anyway, for people who are unfamiliar with soccer, this is a great read, and can be as enjoyable as if you really understand what's going on. Hornby's wit and incredible writing comes out so clearly in this book, and you feel for Hornby and Arsenal as if it was you and your team.