A Season with Verona: Travels Around Italy in Search of Illusion, National Character, and...Goals!

Hardcover - 10 June, 2002 - Arcade Publishing
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By: Tim Parks
ISBN: 1559706287

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Reviews by readers

An Interesting Season

This is a very interesting book for a variety of reasons. The author, Tim Parks, is British, but has lived many years in Verona. He has developed a keen understanding of the passion of Italian calcio (football), along with the more negative facets: bitter provincial rivalries, racism, and the hard-core fan element of the "ultras."

This well-documented and detailed book takes on a different perspective. Parks is an acclaimed published author. He easily could have written a "safe" documentary about life with a professional team. But he chose a different route: he sat with the ultras during home games, and traveled with them on long bus/train rides for away matches. With the exception of one away game when he was the official guest of the team, and another match when he reported the events from the press box. In essence, he was accepted by the most fanatical element of Hellas Verona supporters. Although this provided him with a rare insight, he may have lost his objectivity with such personal involvement.

Hellas Verona has a reputation for having some of the most racist supporters in Italy. Parks spares no details about this volatile subject, but he also explains the bitter historical club rivalries throughout the Serie A. His game summaries are intriguing, and full of local color to keep the reader interested. He is able to describe game action in an appealing fashion, along with the fan reactions that he personally witnessed. Are these descriptions as good as a professional reporter who covers football consistently? No, but he is an excellent writer, and most of all, a fan of the sport. I didn't expect to read game summaries that would parallel the Times of London, BBC, or La Gazzetta dello Sport.

He interviews the fans, as well as the actual team players and coaches. He finds himself being drawn into the lives of the ultras, along with their chants during the actual games. He also has a good understanding of the Italian psyche, whether it be on the field, or away from it. Other reviewers have referenced the book, "The Miracle at Castel di Sangro," by Joe McGinniss. While neither author is an expert on the Serie A, or Italian soccer for that matter, I felt that Parks had a better understanding of the sport. The other author did not grow up in a soccer culture, and his book, while entertaining, is unfortunately reminiscent of the Ugly American attitude. "I've never seen a soccer game before, but I'm going to tell you how to coach the team." Parks doesn't exhibit this approach in this work. While his book may have flaws, he is indeed a soccer enthusiast.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this book.

ultimately nothing profoundly new here

It's not that this isn't a good book but if you've read any of these "follow the club for a season" book, it really offers nothing new other than following a team in another nation. Yes, we find out that all supporters seem hung up on chldish racist/sexist comments/chants. I did like the fact he incorporated Web site BBS postings as many of those were a laugh.

I mean, I do get the whole group mentality male bonding deal that soccer fandom is all about but what i really wanted to know more than anything from this book was why Italian soccer is so popular yet so mindnumbingly dull to watch. How many 0-0, 1-0 matches does Italian Serie A produce? I wanted to find out why a vibrant and colorful culture of fandom (and food, art, fashion, politics, etc.) can somehow produce possibly the worst excuse for entertainment on the soccer pitch ever.

Save your money....I have never thrown away a calcio book--until now

I have never written a review before; I have also never thrown away a calcio book. After reading this book, I can no longer say either.

If you get your kicks reading books about anything but calcio; if you get your kicks reading "Dio boia and Dio can" seemingly a billion times in the first 50 pages, and reading maybe 2 pages worth of calcio in the same stretch, then this book is for you. If, like me, you want to read about calcio...the game, the teams, the players, the true culture, then this is not the book for you. Save your money and buy "Calcio" by Foot, instead.

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