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Exuberant, playful, and evergreen, The Game at the End of the World revels in the grass-stained highlights of a sport without borders or boundaries.
Soccer (née football) fans will rejoice at this all-new volume of crackling essays from the author of God Is Round. Here, Juan Villoro explores the sport through the elements that make it the world's favorite pastime, from its ancient origins, near-mythic players, exhilarating matches, endemic rivalries, and the unlikely moments in which football has changed history.
As a prolific writer and chronicler of World Cup games around the world, Villoro draws on a rich cultural mosaic to inspire readers, players, and fans long after the final whistle blows. With a journalist's ear and a philosopher's outlook, he has produced a collection for curious newcomers and lifelong football buffs alike.
“Juan Villoro is one of my all-time people—a genuine public intellectual who wears his own importance lightly, and a truly gifted writer who manages to be hilarious, incisive, and meaningful all at once. A book by Villoro about futbol, his favorite sport, is something of an apotheosis. The Game at the End of the World is simply a delight, and a must-read for aficionados of 'the people’s game,' or for anyone who loves a damned good story, well told.”
— Jon Lee Anderson
“Villoro’s winning collection of soccer essays and reporting includes gratifying entries on fandom, rivalries, scandals, coaches, officials, and players both famed and obscure.”
— Kirkus Reviews
“This brilliant book by Juan Villoro, one of the world’s most literary aficionados of the sport of fútball/soccer, contains everything you need to know about its history, its heroes, its joys and its sorrows. It is also seems to me a magnificent handbook to the forthcoming World Cup.”
— Paul Theroux, author of Dark Star Safari
“From fútbol’s origins to its major players, legendary rivalries, thrilling matches, and lore, this is going to be a great read for anyone with a love of the game.”
— Book Riot