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bgg616's review against another edition
5.0
A must-read for soccer (football) fans and anyone concerned with the corporatization of sports on all levels. I am familiar with last summer's widespread demonstrations in Brazil, that have continued into this year. Friends in the city where I lived in 1999, Porto Alegre, continue to be impacted by demonstrations in the city. I didn't know these were the first widespread demonstrations in Brazil since the 1980's. Zirin also reviews the impact of recent Olympic and World Cup games on the countries that hosted them, even making the case that the collapse of Greece's economy a few years ago was due in part to the huge debt from the 2004 Olympics. These games cost Greece over 14 billion instead of the 1.3 billion projected. Zirin explores two favela's in Rio interviewing many of the residents. Each chapter begins with a quote from the brilliant Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano's book Soccer: Sunshine and Shadow, and they capture the love of the game, and the politics of it all.
leaton01's review against another edition
5.0
A phenomenal book that one cannot read without having severe reservations about FIFA and the Olympics.
prcizmadia's review against another edition
5.0
Essential reading, period. You can't ignore the linkages between sports and politics anymore. Anyone telling you they should be kept apart has their own agenda, as they cannot be separated. And as a consumer of some of these global mega-events, from the Olympics to the World Cup, down to the way your local team is run or funded, you need to be up on just what is at stake. In Rio de Janeiro, and Brazil as a whole, a wholesale sanitizing urban renewal project is at play, eliminating entire classes of people from their historic homes in favor of a neoliberal theme park desired by European and Brazilian elite. The actors stay the same, the play never changes, so read this fast so you can see it while it happens. And God willing, the people of Brazil will have some luck in turning the tide before it is too late.
More to the point of this book, it's impressively researched, fast-paced, and eminently approachable. You don't get bogged down in minutiae. What I would have liked a little more is some more pages given to the on-the-ground stories in Brazil, as they really hope make it the story of people and not statistics. That said, in parts Zirin's writing reaches a damn near poetic level, a crystal-clear shout for justice, and that is something we always need more of.
More to the point of this book, it's impressively researched, fast-paced, and eminently approachable. You don't get bogged down in minutiae. What I would have liked a little more is some more pages given to the on-the-ground stories in Brazil, as they really hope make it the story of people and not statistics. That said, in parts Zirin's writing reaches a damn near poetic level, a crystal-clear shout for justice, and that is something we always need more of.
kevinjloder's review against another edition
5.0
This opened my eyes and mind to the reality of the Olympics and World Cup beyond the PR campaigns. Yes there are great things that come out of both, but at quite a cost beyond the money. As I was reading this is when the FIFA corruption came to light. I'm currently in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and the opinions of the Olympics are mixed. I hope to return next summer to see for myself how the city is doing.
emmkayt's review against another edition
4.0
I've read some disturbing news stories about the lead-up to mega-sports events these days. Cost overruns and LGBTQ persecution going into the Sochi Olympics, destruction of Rio favelas, slave labour in Qatar - I was interested to read a book on the subject to gain a more in-depth view, so I sought out this recent book by journalist Dave Zirin on Brazil's experiences. It's an eye-opener.
Zirin provides a condensed history of Brazil for those who, like me, know little about it. He then explores the history of soccer in Brazil, which was fascinating, and moves on to the ignoble history of mega-sports events (hint: decades of oppression and displacement, all conveniently enabled by the assertion that politics has no place in sport). Finally, he turns to the struggle - still ongoing at the time of writing - to preserve favela communities in the face of mounting pressure from developers, given extra momentum by the World Cup and Olympics preparations.
The purple prose is a bit much for me. At one point Zirin comments on how gendered sports writing can be, with lots of superlatives about players making love to the ball. Funnily he doesn't seem to notice how, in his own prose, developers lust after favelas, communities are ravished, there are 'profit orgies', etc etc. Nonetheless I was happy to have learned more about these important issues.
Zirin provides a condensed history of Brazil for those who, like me, know little about it. He then explores the history of soccer in Brazil, which was fascinating, and moves on to the ignoble history of mega-sports events (hint: decades of oppression and displacement, all conveniently enabled by the assertion that politics has no place in sport). Finally, he turns to the struggle - still ongoing at the time of writing - to preserve favela communities in the face of mounting pressure from developers, given extra momentum by the World Cup and Olympics preparations.
The purple prose is a bit much for me. At one point Zirin comments on how gendered sports writing can be, with lots of superlatives about players making love to the ball. Funnily he doesn't seem to notice how, in his own prose, developers lust after favelas, communities are ravished, there are 'profit orgies', etc etc. Nonetheless I was happy to have learned more about these important issues.
aliarabzadeh's review against another edition
4.0
كتاب را براي ترجمه خواندم. اميدوارم ترجمه اش هم خوانده شود و مفيد باشد.
كتاب نتيجه ي سفر يك روزنامه نگار تحقيقي ورزشي به برزيل قبل از ميزباني جام جهاني گذشته است. زمينه ي اصلي فعاليت نويسنده پشت پرده هاي سياسي - اجتماعي ورزش است و چند كتاب ديگر هم در همين زمينه دارد.
تم اصلي اين كتاب نسبت نئوليبراليسم و ورزش است. روايتي از ورزش در قرن بيست و يكم كه حالا تبديل شده است به ابزار توجيه و تسهيل سياست هاي نئوليبراليستي.
چفت و بست هاي روايي و منطقي متن آنقدر كه ميشود از قلم يك روزنامه نگار توقع داشت، خوب و راضي كننده است اگرچه كتاب را نبايد به عنوان يك متن پژوهشي با استانداردهاي آكادميك خواند. مثلا شما در يك متن آكادميك براي اثبات مدعي تان نميتوانيد به نقل قول هاي يك پيرزن استناد كنيد كه وسط راهتان به يك ورزشگاه به او برخورده ايد.
ما خيلي به اينجور متن ها عادت نداريم ولي بعيد ميدانم در ارتباط برقرار كردن با متن مشكلي داشته باشيد.
اين كتاب احتمالا دنباله اي هم خواهد داشت كه بعد از المپيك يعني بعد از سفر همين نويسنده به ريو منتشر خواهد شد.
ترجمه كه منتشر شد اطلاعات آن نسخه را هم اضافه خواهم كرد.
كتاب نتيجه ي سفر يك روزنامه نگار تحقيقي ورزشي به برزيل قبل از ميزباني جام جهاني گذشته است. زمينه ي اصلي فعاليت نويسنده پشت پرده هاي سياسي - اجتماعي ورزش است و چند كتاب ديگر هم در همين زمينه دارد.
تم اصلي اين كتاب نسبت نئوليبراليسم و ورزش است. روايتي از ورزش در قرن بيست و يكم كه حالا تبديل شده است به ابزار توجيه و تسهيل سياست هاي نئوليبراليستي.
چفت و بست هاي روايي و منطقي متن آنقدر كه ميشود از قلم يك روزنامه نگار توقع داشت، خوب و راضي كننده است اگرچه كتاب را نبايد به عنوان يك متن پژوهشي با استانداردهاي آكادميك خواند. مثلا شما در يك متن آكادميك براي اثبات مدعي تان نميتوانيد به نقل قول هاي يك پيرزن استناد كنيد كه وسط راهتان به يك ورزشگاه به او برخورده ايد.
ما خيلي به اينجور متن ها عادت نداريم ولي بعيد ميدانم در ارتباط برقرار كردن با متن مشكلي داشته باشيد.
اين كتاب احتمالا دنباله اي هم خواهد داشت كه بعد از المپيك يعني بعد از سفر همين نويسنده به ريو منتشر خواهد شد.
ترجمه كه منتشر شد اطلاعات آن نسخه را هم اضافه خواهم كرد.