Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #57403 in Books
• Published on: 1995-08-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Synopsis
A book in which Wilf Mannion rubs shoulders with The Sunderland Skinhead, recollections of Len Shakleton blight the lives of village shoppers, and the appointment of Kevin Keegan as manager of Newcastle is celebrated by a man in a leather stetson, crooning "For The Good Times" to the accompaniment of a midi organ. "The Far Corner" is a tale of heroism and human frailty, passion and the perils of eating an egg mayonnaise stottie without staining your trousers.

From the Publisher
THE BEST EVER BOOK ON FOOTBALL?
Praise for THE FAR CORNER, shortlisted for the 1995 William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award:

'Forget Nick Hornby's FEVER PITCH, this is the football book of the new age, a mixture of heroism, humour and Norman Hunter, but mainly humour' SUNDAY TIMES Books of the Year

'Pearson's odyssey is an oddity, a book on the people's game to make people laugh aloud ... Recommended' PHIL SHAW in the INDEPENDENT Books of the Year

'Britain's best ever football book' NORTHERN ECHO

'Wickedly funny ... easily storms home as our Book of the Year' FLY ME TO THE MOON, Middlesbrough FC fanzine

'Savagely funny and frequently moving ... Some of the humour is as full-blooded as a tackle by Bryan Robson, and if at times the author wanders off at a tangent, like Chris Waddle on a bad day, then that is the capricious nature of football' DAILY TELEGRAPH

'A brilliant read' NEWCASTLE JOURNAL

'Not a book for those who forbear to laugh or cry out loud ... the gags come thick and fast as Pearson uses his travels in the north-east of England during the 1993-94 football season to regale us with legend, anecdote, fact and history. As an acutely observant iconoclast, nothing, not even north-east leek-growing, is allowed to remain sacred ... The book is driven by the ebullience of Pearson's own indefatigable sense of humour ... A refreshing amalgam of scholarship and scurrility, it plugs into the mind-set of the true football fan' FRANCES EDMONDS in the GUARDIAN

Customer Reviews

Laughing So Much You Will Dribble
Currently the majority of football books are written by overpaid and underperforming players. There books are hollow are often leave with a sense of anger, and often disgust, that you have contributed to the income of another egotitstical maniac who's experience of football is nothing like the one you know.
This book however shows all that is good about football, the experiences of the fans and the long journeys that people make to follow their team. It has moments so funny that I did laugh out loud on the bus and their will be at least one part of the book that someone will relate to. This is one of the best books about football I have ever read.

Searingly funny
A very ,very funny account of football in the North East. As a Newcastle fan & intermittent Gateshead FC supporter, I could readilly identify with some of the characters & scenarios the author describes.
This is not just a book for the North East fan - any football fan will love it. Non league supporters will ,no doubt, have a chuckle or two as they read large sections of this book, they will readily identify with some of the characters Harry runs into in the North East non league scene. If you haven't been to a non league game, this book could well persuade you to go, if anything,just to see if you can spot some of the characters Pearson describes.
This is what football is all about - enjoying the game, enduring the pain of mediocrity,having a laugh,a pint & savouring the atmosphere & the people .
Pearson does all of this in this marvellous book - brilliant. A must for football fans everywhere.

Spot on...North East footy is just like this
What a great book. It hits the spots beautifully and describes not only what football means to the supporters of the big teams but what is means to play for your local town or pub side and the culture that goes along with it.

I've bought this book for many people that I know just so Mr Pearson's writings can be enjoyed by more people. Buy it, you won't regret it.....