Soccer in Sun and Shadow

June 10, 2013
A history of the sport of soccer, the poetic title of this volume, originally published in 1995 as El fútbol a sol y sombra and now in its fourth edition, is a dead giveaway that this is not a purely historical accounting of the world’s most popular game. While Galeano covers the sport’s origins in China five thousand years ago to the 2010 World Cup in chronological order, it’s how he tells the story in this rather poetic history that sets the book apart from others. Galeano, a renowned Uruguayan author and journalist, brings a personal passion to fútbol’s most memorable moments that can only come from a true aficionado. Whether describing great games, momentous goals or extraordinary players, each story has that distinct magical realism so prevalent in Latin American literature that it doesn’t matter that from one sentence to the next the writing moves from clichéd to poetic, as when he describes the great Pelé: “he cut right through his opponents like a hot knife through butter. When he stopped, his opponents got lost in the labyrinths his legs embroidered.” Focusing mostly on the international aspects of the game, Galeano’s Catholic upbringing, socialist politics, and the injustice he’s seen as a journalist seeps into his commentary, and gives his narrative a refreshing perspective that captures soccer’s spiritual roots, corruption by greed, and role as a global equalizer that puts royals and dictators at the mercy of minorities and slum kids.

Starred review from July 15, 2013
A revised and updated version of the Uruguayan author's lyrical exploration of the beautiful game. Like so many children born in Latin America, Galeano (Children of the Days: A Calendar of Human History, 2013, etc.) grew up wanting to play soccer. In his dreams, he was a star. During the day, however, he "was the worst wooden leg ever to set foot on the little soccer fields of my country." Nonetheless, his love affair with the sport continued. After its 1995 publication, El futbol a sol y sombra was instantly hailed as one of the finest works of sportswriting ever written; Sports Illustrated hailed it as one of the 100 best sports books of all time. This updated edition serves as a reminder that this is not just a classic sports book. In more than 150 chapters, sketches, really, most of not more than a page or two, the author explores soccer from a wide variety of angles and looks at some of the major touchstones, including the World Cup games and dozens of significant goals. Galeano does not endeavor to provide a complete history of the game but rather, set pieces exploring great players, moments and themes in the development of the game he deeply loves but does not spare from criticism. The author's longtime translator Fried ably conveys the lyricism and poetry of Galeano's prose. On virtually every page, Galeano uses a phrase or sentence that will leave readers in awe of his gifts. This updated edition scarcely touches the original book but adds four new chapters, longer than those preceding them, of "Extra Time," covering the last four World Cups and developments in the game in the time since 1995. A welcome update of a classic--Galeano's gift to the game he loves.

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Starred review from August 1, 2013
Since its first publication in 1995 (as Football in Sun and Shadow), this book has been relentlessly quoted, and for good reason. The author who pleads, A pretty move, for the love of God, has an eye for beauty, a feel for the game, a sense of proportionand a gift for putting it all into words. Those seeking a history of soccer or a fan's memoir won't find it here. In impressionistic, almost epigrammatic, passages, Galeano, the award-winning Uruguayan author of Open Veins of Latin America (1973), muses on everything from the role of politics to memorable goals and the immortals who scored them. Such is his gift that he deftly sketches entire World Cups in only a few pages. (This revised edition includes the four most recent.) He wryly laments the ever-increasing professionalization and commercialization of the world's sport while celebrating moments of joy and surprise, when the minnow swallows the big fish, or a gifted player inspires the fans despite an overwhelming defeat. Above all, he reminds us of a simple truth that tends to escape the scientists of the ball: soccer is a game, and those who really play it feel happy and make us happy too. An indispensable addition to soccer collections.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)