Hornby describes what football means to big football fans very accurately and, as an Arsenal fan myself, I found that I could relate to him well. Fever Pitch is entertaining and very historically accurate also.

However, on the downside, there wasn't an awful lot of tension or suspence between chapters, which meant that Fever Pitch wasn't the easiest book to pick up and read.

I think that this book would appeal to a wide range of readers. From Arsenal fans who want to relive some of their finest moments(although it can hardly get better than it is now for Arsenal fans), to housewives with no interest in football who are attempting to fathom their husbands interest.


Only cause I am a footbal fan   April 7, 2004
 3 out of 5 found this review helpful

Think of an obsessed football (soccer) fan who has written many related articles on this subject and put them into a book. That’s Fever Pitch. A collection of funny (only occasionally though) but insightful articles on being a fanatic of a North London football club. I enjoyed this book because I am a male of the species; I am around the same age as him and have a deep love for football. I believe that you would need to have these same characteristics to enjoy this novel. It will also help if you are an Arsenal fan. What this book won’t give you is an understanding of the male psyche. This book is about a very small section of male society.


Boring Boring Hornby   June 6, 2003
 3 out of 16 found this review helpful

I have a great admiration for Nick Hornby and am an avid football supporter. However, I did not like this book. I found it to be exactly what it represented - a mawkish, immature and self-indulgent traipse through a lot of football guff. The voice of the novel is likeable enough but the pseudo intellectual 'analysis' soon began to become wearisome. It is clearly intended to be amusing but reads like a juvenile confession - silly, uncrafted and ultimately rather tedious.

If you have football knowledge and a passion for witless nostalgia then this will suit you fine. If you want something well written and witty then try another of Hornby's novels. You get nothing here that you would not have been able to get on the terraces in the 70s - rambling crud that masquerades as interesting reflections. If you think that it is believable then you have missed the point. It is a book that is full of sound and fury but unfortunately signifying nothing. Do not waste your time unless you ARE an obsessive who is undergoing psychiatric treatment.


Good, but only if you're football mad   April 6, 2002
 5 out of 7 found this review helpful

Let me start off with the positive view - This is typically well written, as can be expected by Nick Hornby. The book travels along Nick's "career" with football, detailing all the highs and lows that every football fan will be able to relate to. I bought the book on the strength of a review on the back of the book by a "GQ Magazine" critic. He said even if you aren't into football, you will still enjoy the book... Unfortunately, this wasn't the case. I have no interest in football at all and just found that I couldn't get into the book at all. In fact I gave up half way through. If this had been the first Nick Hornby book I'd read, I'm afraid to say it would've been the last, which would be a pity as I have read his other books and they are superb.

If you are considering reading this then be careful - you may be disappointed. If you are new to Hornby then I would recommend one of his other books first.