Football and Literature: The Mysterious FootballsFascination as Portrayed in Fever Pitchby Nick Hornby

Abstract

The research concerning relations between sport and literature has been growing in importance in recent decades. Sport is a multifaceted and colourful phenomenon of social life. It has inspired numerous writers all overthe world, including Great Britain the motherland of football and many other sports disciplines. As Alexis Tadi(2014b, p. 7) puts it, literature often conceptualises the place and role of sport in culture and society. As such, itdefinitely makes us understand sport better. Selected authors attitudes to football and their works are discussedin the first parts of the paper.The main aim of the publication is to analyze one of the most intriguing books depicting fascination with football,Fever Pitch, written by Nick Hornby. Football, as portrayed here, is far more than ordinary form of entertainment. It isshown as a broadly understood cultural phenomenon, having a great potential of shaping peoples lives. The bookturned out to have an enormous impact both on fans, writers and fi lmmakers. The examination is largely based onliterary and historical sources (poetry volumes, novels, memoirs, press articles) and required familiarizing oneselfwith publications devoted to the historical presence of sport in literature.