Ethan Armstrong, EPL Talk, 12 Jun 09 | “Nestled in between Beckham’s ‘autobiography’ and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Rock Climbing, I found a true gem: The Global Game—Writers on Soccer” (“Book Review: The Global Game”).

Boyd Childress, Library Journal, 15 Dec 08 | “As much social commentary as a compendium of soccer tales and soccer reflections, this delightful collection is essential reading for the soccer fan and those interested in soccer and sport generally in a global environment. … Bringing a variety of writings together in one volume is a credit to the editors, who provide an excellent introduction for each entry” (© 2008 Reed Business Information).

Dr. Fitness and the Fat Guy, podcast | Co-editor John Turnbull appears on the show (18 Dec 08).

Galeano

Eduardo Galeano, author of Soccer in Sun and Shadow | “This book invites you to go on an amazing trip. Soccer is a mirror of life, and this travel will take you to different lands and times. At the end, soccer believers will confirm, once again, that they have never been alone. And pagans will be converted.”

David Goldblatt, author of The Ball Is Round: A Global History of Soccer | “[I]n English in particular, the literary engagement with football has been nugatory [but] … as The Global Game reveals, there is an enormous wealth of writing on and about football all over the rest of the world. … [A]nd here they are … in the first truly global survey of writing on the global game” (Times Literary Supplement, 9 Jan 09, p. 28).

Paul Hendren, cansportswriting.com | “The Global Game has awakened my senses of bygone days when soccer mattered in my life. While flipping the pages I reminisced about days when my young son and I would share a barbeque pork bun at Southern Playground Stadium in Wan Chi to watch seven-a-side football on the unforgiving asphalt playing surface or watching the legendary Roberto Bettega smoothly stroke a ball during practice in the shadows of Varsity Stadium.”

International Sports Press Association | The anthology is announced to members on 22 Oct 08: “The publication shows how soccer lends perspective to cultural practices around the world, to gender relationships, to resistance, to human quests for knowing in ground and sky” (“New Book: The Global Game—Writers on Soccer”).

Marc Jolley, Sport Literature Association | “Read the book. It is worth every minute of your time to read this collection. You will never see or experience football (soccer) the same way again” (“The Global Game,” SLA Book Reviews, 19 Dec 08).

David Kilpatrick, Sport Literature Association | “The Ball Is Round, by David Goldblatt, and The Global Game, edited by John Turnbull, Thom Satterlee and Alon Raab, are milestone works that broaden the historical and literary appreciation, respectively, of the world’s most popular team sport” (“Global and Local Football,” SLA Book Reviews, 22 Jan 09).

Littlefield

Bill Littlefield, host, Only a Game, 90.9 WBUR-Boston | “I’m a soccer fan. If you are, too, this is the book for you. And if you aren’t, and you give The Global Game a chance, the light may yet shine upon you” (“The Global Game: Writers on Soccer,” 5 Feb 09). For the Boston Globe, Littlefield writes that The Global Game is “meant for readers open-minded enough to be curious about what writers from dozens of different cultures have had to say about the sport that comes closest to being the world’s game” (“In These Clashes, Moderation Takes a Beating,” 1 Mar 09).

Andrei Markovits, author of Offside: Soccer and American Exceptionalism | “This volume features an irresistible combination: wonderfully rich essays and deeply nuanced literature authored by brilliant writers hailing from different cultures united in their love for soccer, that simple but oh so beautiful game. Kudos to the volume’s editors for enriching us with these fine texts.”

Lee McGowan, The Simplest Game | “[F]or the first time, that I know of anyway, someone has taken the time to seek out and translate football writing from around the world and put it in one place. It’s like a sampler, only smarter. … It’s an education that’s entertaining” (“The Global Game Meets the Simplest Game,” 4 Feb 09).

Scott McLemee, Inside Higher Ed | “All due credit to other academic publishers, of course, but the University of Nebraska Press has shown by far the strongest commitment to publishing serious books on sports, over the years. To keep this column within manageable bounds, two such titles in the fall catalog are especially worth noting. One is an anthology, The Global Game: Writers on Soccer, due in November. Among its … contributors are Günter Grass, Ted Hughes, Mario Vargas Llosa, Charles Simic, Elvis Costello, and Zapatista leader Subcomandante Marcos” (“Books Exposed,” 4 Jun 08).

Christine Thomas, Honolulu Advertiser | Named among 2008’s most memorable books (28 Dec 08).

University of California, Davis, “Spotlight: Gifts of Prose” | The Global Game recommended for the holiday shopping season (5 Dec 08).

H. W. Wilson Co., Essay and General Literature Index—October 2008 | Anthology elected for Oct 08 index: “These essays explore the social and cultural aspects of the world’s most popular sport: soccer, also known as association football or simply football. Included are memoirs, observations, and reflections of enthusiasts from Iceland, China, Sierra Leone, among many other places.”