IN FOOTBALL writing the fan's memoirs genre seemed to have started and ended with Fever Pitch. Nick Hornby's autobiographical ode to football obsession set the bar so high that 17 years on we are still looking for a worthy successor. Trying to breathe some life into this dying form of literature is Brian Reade; a life-long Liverpool fan, former journalist and award winning columnist, with his witty and touching insights on following Liverpool over the last 40 years.
44 Years With The Same Bird certainly starts well. In fact, you'd be hard pressed to find any better laugh-out-loud writing this year than the nostalgic images conjured up by Reade in the first couple of chapters as he recalls his early indifference
to a sport that would quickly consume his entire life. The author recalls in detail the constant mimicking of favourite goals from favourite players given god-like status who appear, alongside the rest of his heroes, plastered across every inch of his bedrooms walls. This is a deep rooted feeling that every football fan from Inverness to Portsmouth can relate to, and while reading the opening chapters it is extremely difficult trying to remain focused as your mind drifts back to your own early memories of being a football fanatic.
To those who made Fever Pitch their bible, that may sound a bit too recognisable but there is little Hornby-like about the powerful writing in the chapters that Reade devotes to the Hillsborough tragedy. The writing conveys a sheer emotion that leaps off the page and engulfs the reader with something of the sensation of grief and anger which Reade feels. These chapters are breathtaking.
Time is also dedicated to Reade's experiences of the fighting in Rome after the 1984 European Cup Final and his take on the Heysel disaster; all in all giving this book an edge that is truly gripping and leaves the reader mentally shaken.
Despite such an exceptional mix of funny and emotive writing, however, there is still plenty of room for criticism of its 323 pages. It may seem odd to point out but an aspect that may stop many a reader from taking the book to heart is the fact that it is very Liverpool FC. Slightly obvious considering the large crest on the front cover but it is hard to imagine any Man United or Everton fan (or Arsenal, Tottenham, Chelsea, Tranmere etc) managing to stomach the love-in pages devoted to Liverpool's vast success.
Also, Reade gets into rant mode far too often and as the book nears the end the reader is treated to what amounts to little more than summaries of his feelings towards the last four Liverpool managers. Even these are interesting in places but detract from the overall quality of the writing that is much more consistent in earlier chapters.
Such flaws mean that this book is far from a new Fever Pitch. But Reade's writing on Hillsborough, in which he pours his heart out onto the page, is worth the price of the book alone.
