A Season With Verona
June 2012 · Random House
4.8star
9 reviewsreport
eBook
464
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About this eBook
'Delves into the very essence of being a fan, while seamlessly exploring Italian history, politics, culture and society,' Guardian
Is Italy a united country, or a loose affiliation of warring states? Is Italian football a sport, or an ill-disguised protraction of ancient enmities?
Tim Parks goes on the road to follow the fortunes of Hellas Verona football club, to pay a different kind of visit to some of the world's most beautiful cities. This is a highly personal account of one man's relationship with a country, its people and its national sport. A book that combines the pleasures of travel writing with a profound analysis of one country's mad, mad way of keeping itself entertained.
Is Italy a united country, or a loose affiliation of warring states? Is Italian football a sport, or an ill-disguised protraction of ancient enmities?
Tim Parks goes on the road to follow the fortunes of Hellas Verona football club, to pay a different kind of visit to some of the world's most beautiful cities. This is a highly personal account of one man's relationship with a country, its people and its national sport. A book that combines the pleasures of travel writing with a profound analysis of one country's mad, mad way of keeping itself entertained.
Ratings and reviews
4.8
9 reviews
Richard Slaughter
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4 September 2013
A book detailing the trials and tribulations of Parks and Hellas Verona's travelling 'butei' as they travel to every game of Hellas Verona, a struggling provincial team that manage to defy the odds more often than not. Dealing with a wide variety of subject matter, the author manages to convey his intense passion for the team and their fans, whilst touching on subjects further afield, such as Italian politics and the relationship between football and social justice. As an avid football fan, I particularly enjoyed not only the representation of the football fan's plight in Italy, but in particular the relationship that Italian Police have with away fans, which shocks and amazes at times. Though the book touches briefly on corruption in Serie A (one of the world's greatest football leagues), it is left largely alone, beyond the inane chattering of determined fans, who see only that the gods, police, football league and destiny are against them. If you've read 'A Year With Castel Di Sangro', you will know this type of book, but beyond the subject matter, they share little in common, as the focus of Parks book is more on the fans perspective, rather than the team's.
Gerry Naughton
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7 May 2019
what a journey the 2000/01 season was. A roller coaster and a half. Really enjoyed it
About the author
Born in Manchester, Tim Parks grew up in London and studied at Cambridge and Harvard. In 1981 he moved to Italy where he has lived ever since. He is the author of novels, non-fiction and essays, including Europa, Cleaver and Teach Us to Sit Still. He has won the Somerset Maugham, Betty Trask and Llewellyn Rhys awards, and been shortlisted for the Booker Prize. He lectures on literary translation in Milan, writes for publications such as the New Yorker and the New York Review of Books, and his many translations from the Italian include works by Moravia, Calvino, Calasso, Tabucchi and Machiavelli.
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