Rating: 
Summary: An autobiography of the new pop-culture
Review: "Fever pitch" is Hornby's first well-known book, a precedent to "High fidelity" and "About a boy". Hornby is one of the two british people that has brought a new meaning to pop-culture; the other is Helen Fielding. Hornby's characters are simple, common people that live unusual situations and relationships along his common lives. In this case, Hornby's character is himself, and the book is about his relationship with London soccer team Arsenal. To me this book was fun to read because, like Hornby - although in a much, much smaller degree - I am a soccer fanatic, and, like him, my favourite team - Corinthians Paulista - is also one of the most popular and inconstant teams in my country. Hornby writes his book describing how his life was related to Arsenal's achievements. When Arsenal was doing good, Hornby was doing good. When Arsenal was struggling, Hornby was in depression. Of course, there's much more to it than just that, but it is interesting to observe the development of Hornby's obsession, because it can happen to anyone, at any time. The problem with "Fever pitch" is that, if the reader doesn't like or doesn't know soccer there will be a lot of skipped paragraphs, and maybe the book will be put aside before the end. Even if the reader can see this story as a metaphor, soccer is ever-present and cannot be dissociated from Hornby's life. I liked it and understood it because soccer IS a very present thing in my life. Maybe if it was about cricket, I would not have liked it. Grade 8.8/10
Rating:
Summary: Hornby scores with Fever Pitch
Review: As a football (or soccer) player and fan, I thought Nick Hornby's, Fever Pitch, was a flying success. It has a very unique style and Hornby uses a brilliant organizational strategy to connect the stories. Unlike the organization of any memoir I have read, Fever Pitch follows Hornby's life through a series Arsenal football games (his favorite team) he attended and the impact these games had on him as a football fan and as a person. It keeps the story focused, while also providing the reader with some understanding to why he acted the way he did.
The story, however, is not just about the games. Each game he attends connects to his life outside of Arsenal in some way. What I most admire about the piece is the way he keeps the two lives tied in together and keeps both the soccer and the social life interesting. He truly is obsessed with soccer and no matter how much he tries to deny it, it has taken over his life. He not only abandons a good friend's birthday party, but at one point he says that if he has a kid, he can't imagine going to his child's game or concert over an Arsenal game. As readers, we see the choices he is forced to make and the affects this has on him and the people in his life.
While I think everyone would enjoy this book, I hesitate in recommending it for people who aren't fans of football and who don't know the rules. I can see the book getting very repetitive if the games are not interesting to the reader, because Hornby's social life goes on dry spells for many pages at a time. He goes on for a long time about the successes and failures of Arsenal, which climaxes at the 1989 Arsenal vs. Liverpool game. As a football fan, I was on the edge of my chair reading each play with enthusiasm, but if the reader is an American without much knowledge of soccer I doubt he or she could fully understand how intense the game can get and how into English fans get. Overall, though, Hornby scores with Fever Pitch.
Rating: 
Summary: Fever Pitch
Review: As an Arsenal fan Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch is a must read. For Hornby fans looking for the usual material they will probably be let down. Fever Pitch is a diary of Arsenal Football Club (soccer for us Americans) games throughout his life. His recollection of all the games and scores is amazing and give the reader an idea of how extreme his obsession is with Arsenal.
In some ways this book helped my obsession with Arsenal as well. Horby also wrote the screenplay for the movie of the same title. It stars Colin Firth and is a little more accessible in terms of linear storytelling. Another movie is being made in the US with Jimmy Fallon, but it is based off of the Boston Red Sox. The best part of Fever Pitch is the classic Liverpool/Arsenal game in 1989; it will be difficult to transpose that into the Red Sox. I recommend the book to any sports fan and anyone that love the Gunners.
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Summary: Great insight to the Football fanatic's mind
Review: Being an American, I've always enjoyed English football, but once I visited and realized the extent of the obsession with the game we call soccer, it absolutely floored me. Nick Hornby's book addresses the mind of the ultimate Arsenal fanatic, himself, and attempts to explain to the world how football creates a world for him and an escape from the real world. It could make even the most die-hard Liverpool fans feel for Arsenal (it almost made me, a Man U fan, wish to go to the Arsenal stadium for a game, if only to experience football as he explains it). I would recommend this book to anyone with any affinity to English football, although it goes so far beyond that.
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Summary: Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby is one of the best football books
Review: Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby is one of the best football books around. But it is about much more than football, it gives a rare glimpse into the psyche of the British football fan. In his book, football is a metaphor for all aspects of life, romance, family, and career. Hornby¡¦s amusing narratives perfectly encapsulate the unique relationship a football fan has with their favorite team. Even as a Manchester United fan I find it fascinating to read about his obsession with and dedication to Arsenal.
At the most superficial level, this book provides a very detail account of Arsenal from the late 60s through the beginning of the 90s, and the increasingly violent behavior by football fans during the late 70s and early 80s, and the negative impact it had on his feelings for the games.
Hornby describes vividly how his life was related to Arsenal's achievements. When Arsenal was doing good, Hornby was doing good. When Arsenal was having an off-season, Hornby fell into depression. It is interesting to observe the development of Hornby's obsession, because it can happen to anyone. With the backdrop of his often witty accounts of Arsenal games, Hornby talks about how his life evolves with his family, his girlfriend, and his students. Football is like a common world language, and Hornby uses it to interact with his students. And watching football with his father was one the highlights of his childhood.
Every game has an analogy in life for the football fan. For Hornby, a tight game ending in defeat is a painful reminder of a break with his girlfriend.
While this obsession with football is almost innate, sometimes Hornby felt immature, especially when he was unable to control his overwhelming passion for the game in front of his students.
In humorous pros Hornby highlights how football and life come together on the pitch and is definitely worthy of reading.
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Summary: Laughing out loud funny!!
Review: I had heard a lot about Hornby's books, and quite few guys I know had recommended them as hilariously funny. "Fever Pitch" was recommended as the absolute best one, so I thought I'd better read it. The book is about Arsenal, Hornby, and what it means to be a soccer (football) fan (not a hooligan, just severely addicted to soccer). And oh my God! Hornby qualifies for the die-hard group by far! We are talking about *serious* addiction to soccer!! Or what do you say to scheduling your whole life (career & work / partner / social etc) around the possibility of a re-play of a game? Or saying "no" to weddings because it collides with an Arsenal match? Someone at work told me that this book would be insightful to understanding English men / soccer fans.. If that is true - I'll stay clear! Since I am not English, I probably missed a few (good?) jokes due to my obvious lack of native soccer lingo. But even so, there was plenty for me to enjoy. And the book certainly made me laugh out loud, several times. "Fever Pitch" was a fast and easy read and I read this book in a few sittings. It was a very, very, funny and highly entertaining book. Absolutely recommended!
Rating: 
Summary: Probably not bad, just bad for me
Review: I picked this book out on Amazon before I read any of Hornby's books because it was the highest rated book of his. I didn't know it was a 250-page book about his personal love of soccer (or football). Hornby's English. There are a lot of football fans in England. If I lived in England, I'd be a football nut too. But reading this book was like listening to steeplechase nuts recount the best races they'd ever witnessed. I was hoping it might turn into an examination of the global fanaticism surrounding the sport, but it became a very personal description of Hornby's love affair with the game, and I was more fascinated by why someone would write a game-by-game description of twenty-year-old soccer seasons. Hornby's a good writer, but I'd recommend this only to someone who really really really loves soccer.
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Summary: A book for all sports fans, not just football fans
Review: If you have a passion for sports, than this simply is the book for you -- even if you despise the game of football (soccer for those American non-fans out there, one of which I'm proud to say I'm not a member). Hornby captured in absolute perfect detail the sports lover and/or fanatic, and how the ebb and flow of the game, even just one game, can literally change your day, your life. My favorite part of the book is in the end, when he describes the Arsenal 2-goal win over Liverpool to win the Premiership, and how no one save the true sports nut can appreciate how that moment will stand for him as his greatest moment ever in life. If you're a sports fan who has that one memory in life (Lenny Dykstra's 10th inning homer of Game 5 of the 1993 NLCS is mine), then you must buy this book -- and learn a little about yourself in the process. Nick Hornby, you're my new hero. Cheers.
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Summary: Inside the head of the diehard sports fan
Review: Nick Hornby is now desevedly well known for High Fidelity, but in my opinion this book is even better. The story centers around his obsession with the English Division 1 football team Arsenal, but you don't have to like or care about the sport to really enjoy this book. If you happen to be somewhat on the fanatical side of devotion to a particular team in any sport, you'll see a lot here that will ring very true. My own life-and-death sports devotion is tied to another sport (American college football) and another team (Ohio State), but I was nodding my head in recognition of my own feelings and behavior many times through this book. As in High Fidelity, Hornby really captures the essence of this experience and expresses it in a way that is precise, revealing and humorous. Hornby may be a novelist, but he's a very good psychologist too. So if you are a fanatic devotee of a sports team (doesn't matter what team or what sport) or you'd like to understand someone who is - then read this book. Highly recommended!
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Summary: Impeccible!
Review: Nick Hornby tells his life story through Fever Pitch, but the emotions and struggles he describes will undoubtedly resonate with many a male reader. We learn all we need to know about English soccer, the Premier League, the Arsenal Football Club, and, most of all, Nick Hornby, in its pages. The narration is filled with charm and I believe this work is far superior to everything that he wrote afterwards (even though I loved "High Fidelity" and liked "About a Boy"). His subtitles are hilarious (Wembley II: The Nightmare Continues) and his vignettes are riveting. The author's coherent weaving of sport into the larger tapestry of life is something that only a very abstract mind could have accomplished. I sometimes get out the section on the Arsenal footballer, Gus Ceasar, and read it aloud to whoever will listen as it sums up the fact that outside of athletic competition, few incompetent individuals are ever discovered or found out. I loved this book.
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