Tim Parks, award winning novelist & travel writer, is based in Verona and has become a fan of the controversial Italian side, Hellas Verona. He decides to follow them on their travels for a season watching every match away from home, travelling with the hardcore Hellas fans, seeing his adopted country in a very different light from coaches and terraces.
The book hangs on the fixtures of Hellas with fabulous tension as they battle for survival but is so much more than just a football book.
Part travelogue, part social investigation it is an absolute triumph. If this isn’t yet on your bookshelves add to basket immediately. A book to return to again and again. Bravo!
Addictive reading...each chapter is a short story, the whole book an epic - Observer
Parks knows his football, and he knows Italy still better. His adopted country, in all its enduring and exasperating strengths and weaknesses, comes vividly to life - Sunday Times
A fascinating emotional journey... His descriptions of Italian football are descriptions of Italy itself, its regional differences, its squabbles, its distinctive temper - Daily Telegraph
An enthralling, insightful account of the real Italy - Independent
Author
About Tim Parks
Tim Parks studied at Cambridge and Harvard. He lives near Verona with his wife and three children. His novel Europa was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.
