{"product_id":"the-thinking-fans-guide-to-the-world-cup","title":"The Thinking Fan's Guide to the World Cup","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Thinking Fan's Guide to the World Cup features original pieces by thirty-two leading writers and journalists about the thirty-two nations that have qualified for the world's greatest sporting event. In addition to all the essential information any fan needs--the complete 2006 match schedule, results from past tournaments, facts and figures about the nations, players, teams, and referees--here are essays that shine a whole new light on soccer and the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eFormer Foreign Minister of Mexico Jorge G. Castañeda invites George W. Bush to watch a game.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eNovelist Robert Coover remembers soccer in Spain after the death of General Francisco Franco.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eDave Eggers on America, and the gym teachers who kept it free from communism.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eTime magazine's Tokyo bureau chief Jim Frederick shows how soccer is displacing baseball in Japan.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eNovelist Aleksandar Hemon proves, once and for all, that sex and soccer do not mix.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eNovelist John Lanchester describes the indescribable: the beauty of Brazilian soccer.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe New Yorker's Cressida Leyshon on Trinidad and Tobago, 750-1 underdogs.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eFever Pitch author Nick Hornby on the conflicting call of club and country.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003ePlus an afterword by Franklin Foer on the form of government most likely to win the World Cup.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Harper Perennial","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48833298596045,"sku":"9780061132261","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0557\/1529\/9533\/files\/imageloader_81700604-4603-42f5-bae0-16eb7fa87f42.jpg?v=1790816168","url":"https:\/\/booksatmidnight.com\/products\/the-thinking-fans-guide-to-the-world-cup","provider":"Books At Midnight","version":"1.0","type":"link"}