Best Seat in the House

Title: Best Seat in the House

Author: Spike Lee

Published: 1997

Publisher: Three River Press

Spike Lee loves the New York Knicks and the game of basketball. That much is clear in this part-memoir, part-personalised history of the game, part-ramble that makes up Best Seat in the House.

Although published in 1997, this book still feels fresh, largely due to Lee’s conversational style. In fact an audiobook would in all likeliness be a more attractive proposition, the whole books feels like one chatty conversation with one of the sport’s biggest fan but also one of its fiercest critics.

Lee talks about his own basketball journey – from growing up in Brooklyn and playing all sports to being drawn in and captivated by basketball. Visits to the world famous Madison Square Garden to see college hoops with his brother and father when he was small. Lee, as soon as he graduated from New York University’s film school and started making money got himself a season ticket up in the gods of the Garden and slowly started to work his way down towards courtside where he now sits (hence the title of the book).

Due to the success of his films, Lee ended up directing adverts for Nike. This gave him access to the NBA’s biggest stars, often seeing them in a light rarely seen. This access obviously gives Lee an insight that millions would love to have and there is an element of name-dropping (playing cards with Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and Karl Malone during the Barcelona Olympics being a good example) but there is always a reason for doing so – but ultimately, he is still a fan who can’t quite believe his luck.

When Lee is involved in conversations with himself is when the book is at its most successful. When it segue elsewhere – focusing on the Marberry family (not successfully and without focus, it comes from nowhere) or in conversation with fellow Knicks-obsessive and filmmaker Woody Allen. As a fan of both these men who direct with passion, the interview is underwhelming and had the feeling of stiltedness and actually felt as the two men had conducted the interview via letter, fax or email.

There haven’t been many successful books about basketball aside from autobiographies and perhaps the reason behind that is because so much happens in a game, it actually means little. Therefore Lee’s effort is a welcome one and his foray into another medium is a welcome one.

Buy Best Seat in the House from Amazon Marketplace (not available from retailers)

Blog update

Happy New Year.

Apologies for the lack of updates that have been appearing on the blog recently. Turns out full-time work combined with a part-time job is not partially helpful when trying to run a blog. But fear not, 2012 will see plenty more posts with one on Spike Lee's basketball memoir, Best Seat in the House coming up shortly.

There will also be a joint review of two Dave Zirin books, Paul Lake's superb autobiography, the biography of Robert Enke by Ronald Reng as well as several others in the pipeline.

Thank you for your patience and here's to a successful 2012.

Happy reading!

Please Don't Go

Title: Please Don't Go

Author: John Hartson

Published: 2011

Publisher: Mainstream

There are some footballers, who for whatever reason, we cannot help but like, such is their enthusiasm and joy they have for their sport – Lionel Messi and Paul Gascoigne are two that immediately spring to mind. As does the larger than life John Hartson.

Hartson has previously written an autobiography in 2007 (before he retired as is becoming de riguer thesedays) but in 2010 he took on a bigger challenge than any he faced on the pitch – testicular cancer. Please Don’t Go details Hartson’s life in the months leading up to his hospitalisation and the months after. He deals with the majority of his footballing career in flashbacks – his time at Luton, Arsenal, West Ham and Wimbledon dealt with fairly swiftly. He also reflects on life growing up in Wales and some of the behaviour in his teenage years that impacted upon his happiness later in life.

Hartson is unflinchingly honest about all things in this book. He talks about money freely as well as the material items in life although it is done in a matter-of-fact style as opposed to flaunting his wealth. Yet Hartson should be richer than he is: a series of big transfer fees combined with hefty pay packets that were squandered on bets as well as a substantial divorce settlement means that Hartson isn’t uncomfortable but should be in a better position. He’s cavalier with his money but also acutely aware of it too. His divorce and the misery it caused him is also dealt with openly – arguably it’s not in Hartson’s nature to be anything else.

Like Tony Cascarino’s Full Time, Please Don’t Go reveals the frustration of a player in the twilight of their career – the body aches, the enthusiasm for the game dissipates and crucially other things in life start to matter more than football. And in Hartson’s case it is the damage caused by breakdown of his previous marriage and separation from his children. Hartson’s love of his family, his children and partner Sarah shines through the entirety of this book – he has a lot of love to give and this reciprocated by friends and family. Hartson also explores some of the problems that face many footballers: gambling as well as others such as depression and over-eating which is as a consequence of the lack of fulfilment he is receiving in his career.

All this is intriguing but there is a sense of perpetual creeping doom which is inescapable when the reader knows what is about to happen to Hartson. How close Hartson came to death is recalled in lucid and simple prose by his sister and Sarah as Hartson had lost consciousness for several weeks. This is undeniably dramatic but not gripping as the reader knows that ultimately there is a happy ending to this story.

While Please Don’t Go may be relatively weak in its writing, that is made up for in the strength of the story being told negates this. John Hartson is responsible for one of the most honest autobiographies in years and for that we should be thankful.

Buy Please Don't Go here.

Football - Bloody Hell!

Title: Football - Bloody Hell!

Author: Patrick Barclay

Published: 2011 (Paperback)

Publisher: Yellow Jersey

There exists a litany of books about Sir Alex Ferguson – from Michael Crick’s The Boss to This Is The One by Daniel Taylor and Frank Worrall’s Walking in A Fergie Wonderland as well as several more including his own autobiography which was published in 1999 following his triumph in Barcelona over Bayern Munich. Does Patrick Barclay’s book bring about any sensational revelations or scandals? No, but it presents an even-handed and well crafted look at arguably the game’s greatest boss.

Football – Bloody Hell! tells the story of Ferguson’s life from his humble beginnings in Govan to his long tenure at Old Trafford via a steady if unspectacular playing career and managerial stints at East Stirlingshire, St Mirren, Aberdeen and Scotland (the latter in only a caretaker role). The recently released paperback edition includes chapters charting the tumultuous 2010-11 season which saw Manchester United clinch a record-breaking 19^th league title and a Champions League runners-up berth but also the rise of the ‘noisy neighbours’ in the newly minted Manchester City and the strange case of Wayne Rooney’s poor performances, transfer request and subsequent return to form.

Barclay is an elegant writer which allows Football – Bloody Hell! to flow, making it a very easy read. Barclay is also helped by spending many of his years in the company of Ferguson (the book contains a photo of Barclay along with the European Cup Winners Cup and a svelte looking Gerry McNee on the plane home from triumph over Real Madrid in Gothenburg). Barclay is clearly an admirer of Ferguson’s talents but is also keenly aware of the more unpleasant sides of Ferguson’s character. Barclay regales us with a tale of the torrent of abuse he received from Ferguson after Barclay hinted that Ferguson may have been losing control at Old Trafford. Another feature is what Sir Alex may call taking a stand but others may regard as pettiness: his boycott of the BBC after a Panorama investigation questioning the role of his son Jason in some of Manchester United’s transfer dealings as well as recalling several players who were on loan to Preston North End days after another of his sons, Darren, was sacked by the club.

Barclay has obviously a good book of contacts and many of these men offer key insights into Ferguson’s psyche. Those thinking footballers, Mark McGhee and Gordon Strachan reveal a great deal and give good assessments about what makes him tick despite both of their relationships with Ferguson breaking down. Aside from a detour chapter detailing McGhee’s management record which is unnecessary the book keeps a good pace, however it is noticeable that the chapters from 2008 onwards feel rushed and lack the same detail as those that preceded it. Perhaps this is not surprising as they ultimately suffer from a lack of insight from those closest to Sir Alex Ferguson. Unlike previous chapters, many of those who have stories to tell are no doubt still receiving the benefits of Sir Alex’s patronage – and as Jaap Stam discovered – speaking publically about the boss is akin to signing your own death warrant at Old Trafford.

Ultimately a man who has managed to achieve greatness and continued success as Ferguson deserves a fitting biography and Football – Bloody Hell! delivers that – though nothing is certain in football, it’ll be more than likely that Barclay will be making further additions to future editions of this book.

Buy Football - Bloody Hell! here.

Trautmann's Journey

Title: Trautmann's Journey: From Hitler Youth to FA Cup Legend

Author: Catrine Clay

Published: 2010

Publisher: Yellow Jersey

There aren’t many footballers biographies where you can be over half-way through and 200 pages in before the player even begins to have a lifestyle closely approximating that of a professional footballer. But Bert Trautmann is no ordinary footballer as this book by Catrine Clay reveals.

Many people will know Trautmann as the German Manchester City goalkeeper who broke his neck in the 1955 FA Cup Final with sixteen minutes to play yet determined to continue, played on, making a number of important saves to ensure his side clinched the cup. Yet ten years previously he was fighting for Germany in the Second World War against many of the players and fans who would later applaud and cheer him on.

Born in Bremen, Trautmann was the right age to be fully indoctrinated by the plans of the Nazi Party and from a young age, Bert was a member of the Hitler Youth – an organisation that valued athleticism and brawn above thinking ability. Whilst Trautmann has some of the latter, he was a gifted handball and football player and was welcomed by the Hitler Youth and a model Aryan. Unsurprisingly, his academic studies took a back seat when he continually being lauded with praise and upheld as a good example to his peers.

The majority of Trautmann’s Journey focuses on Bert’s life from his school days to his time as a Paratrooper in the German Army during the war. Clay makes no excuses here for Trautmann, he was a fully signed up member, who may have been naive about what jobs he was undertaking, nonetheless, was fully committed to Nazi ideas and was determined to do his bit for the Fuhrer.

Clay vividly paints a picture of what life was like for German soldiers during the War: the futility of trying to beat the Russians and then re-treating to defend Germany’s interests on the Western Front. At the same time, Clay sets the context with description of life for everyday Germans juxtaposed with the internal battles that were occurring between Hitler and his Generals.

Once captured by the British, Trautmann is interned in the north west of England where he is far from repentant about the German actions in the war. However, over time he becomes more aware of the destruction caused by Hitler’s plans, coupled with the warm hospitality he receives from the majority of the Brits he meets, Trautmann decides to stay in England instead of returning to Bremen to be with his family.

The last few chapters of Trautmann’s journey feels rushed with only one devoted to his time at St Helens Town FC and only another with his entire career at Manchester City, where he did a great deal to enhance the reputation of Germans as well as heroically putting his team above danger to himself. Whilst a match by match analysis wouldn’t have been necessary, these chapters feel hurried. The epilogue which recounts Clay speaking to Trautmann is very interesting and definitely more depth would have enhanced the book as much of Bert’s personal life is glossed over in a number of sentences, where certain issues could have been probed more deeply.

There is unlikely to be a footballer who has led such a remarkable life as Bert Trautmann. His story is one that is worth retelling and in this day and age, remarkable that it hasn’t been made into a television series or film. From gifted youth in trouble to FA Cup hero, it’s a tale that’s straight out of Hollywood.

Buy Trautmann's Journey here.

Believe in the Sign

Title: Believe in the Sign

Author: Mark Hodkinson

Published: 2007

Publisher: Pomona Press

Whilst reading about a perennially small team in the industrial north west of England during the 1970s may not be the glamour that appeals to many sports fans, Mark Hodkinson’s Believe in the Sign is an interesting tale of growing up in Rochdale as well as charting the downright misery of supporting a club that has no history of achieving greatness, isn’t achieving greatness and nor is there any indication they are ever likely to achieve greatness.

Alongside tales of early cup exits to non-league opponents and promises of a ‘fresh start’ under new management, is anecdotes and recollections of adolescence in an unfashionable former-industrial town - the opening of an ASDA supermarket, bikes being stolen, Scout groups and rather grimly, an abduction and murder of a young girl.

There is no flashiness involved in Hodkinson’s book - it is deliberately vacant of some details and it is much the better for it. It is full of smart observations without being pleased with itself. Hodkinson is a writer whose work I will be further investigating (hopefully) in this blog in the future.

Buy Believe in the Sign here.

The Golden Years

Title: The Golden Years - Hibernian in the Days of the Famous Five

Author: Tom Wright

Published: 2010

Publisher: DB Publishing

The Golden Years is the history of Hibernian’s success in the years following the Second World War. Led by a quintet of talented players - Gordon Smith, Lawrie Reilly, Bobby Johnstone, Eddie Turnbull and Willie Ormond. They were known as the Famous Five and for a decade wrestled for dominance as one of the top club sides in Britain, if not the world.

The book is told in standard linear fashion and begins before the outbreak of the Second World War. The style is informative and factual, almost textbook like, not necessarily aimed at entertaining the read. This is a piece of historic preservation rather than an examination of the personalities involved and whilst there is certainly not glaring faults with this style, it does treat the piece rather earnestly rather than celebrate the time with added colour. Another criticism would be the size of the print which is far too small and makes the task of reading the Golden Years far more daunting than it should be.

Wright is the Hibs club historian and it shows. He has access to reams of sources and it’s clear as all the detail is in the book very precisely. There are as well a good few anecdotes which are worth sharing, which certainly date the era: for example in 1949 the Hibs players gave the Board of Directors a Christmas gift. Not a move that I can imagine is replicated in the current era by players at Easter Road (or most clubs for that matter). Also, more tellingly, it emerges that Scotland took 41 people to the World Cup finals in 1954 in Switzerland. Only 13 of them were players. So it appears mismanagement and incompetence has been a fundamental part of the SFA for a prolonged period of time.

What is all the more remarkable about Hibs’ achievements on the pitch during the Famous Five era is that for a side that won the league three times between 1948 and 1952 is that the Famous Five only appeared together in 80 league matches. It is purely conjecture but one would have to wonder what could have been achieved by this Hibernian side if they had stayed injury free.

Buy The Golden Years here.