TITLE = A Season with Verona AUTHOR = Tim Parks PRICE = 11.89 pounds, EUR 18.49 (Hardcover) SIZE = 447 pages YEAR = 2002, Secker & Warburg SOURCE = www.amazon.co.uk RATING = 4 1/2 stars
This is an excellent book, one that will certainly draw comparisons with
The Miracle of Castel di Sangro. And in fact,
it comes the winner hands-down, although certainly one would expect that
Verona is less interesting than CdS :) The difference is that Tim Parks, a
Brit expat writes from a fan's perspective, and lacks the overbearing ego
that McGuiness exhibits at times. Plus having lived in Italy, he not
surprised at the way things happen...
The book is written in chapters that pretty much follow each game through
the season, and in a nice touch, the results and tables are printed at the
end of each. This allows the reader to follow the ups and - mostly - downs
of Verona as they struggle to maintain Serie A. And a mighty struggle it
is, given that they're basically crap. Hellas Verona has a reputation as
having a "racist" fan base, but things are not always what they seem - at
least when you're smack in the middle of the Curva like Parks.
Parks is fairly well known on some other non-soccer related drivel about
Italy :) No matter, we can forgive him those transgressions. He reveals
himslef as a true soccer fan (or nut). At times he waxes philosophically
about some topics that while not totally irrelevant (well, perhaps), are
hardly key to the story. It's like he had to get something off his chest.
OK, you can indulge him and then skip over it to get back to the
Lazio merda!, Vaffanculo Milan!, Bastardi! and other choice
terminology. In fact, he has the makings of a very useful addition to the
Abseits Serie A Lexikon. And the story of the season itself, well, Parks
certainly couldn't have asked for a more dramatic plot. Made all the more
riveting by the rise of city rivals Chievo.
This book is highly recommended. I don't normally have much use for
Italian soccer, but this not only gives some useful insight into Italian
culture, but it's top notch soccer literature as well.