- Paperback: 240 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Ireland (5 Nov 2010)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1844882527
- ISBN-13: 978-1844882526
- Product Dimensions: 23 x 15.2 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 253,909 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Club
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Trade in The Club for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Plus, get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
To understand Ireland, you have to understand the GAA. To understand the GAA, you have to read this book. A masterpiece. (Tom Humphries )
An extraordinary saga - unflinching in its honesty. This book is to hurling what Eamon Dunphy's seminal Only a Game? was to soccer writing
(Richard Fitzpatrick Irish Examiner )
This is one of the best sports that has been written in Ireland. You'll cry a lot, if you have a soul. And if you love sport, you'll love this book.
(Ger Gilroy )
Deserves its place among the most courageous Irish sports books ever conceived, and one of the finest ever written
(Michael Foley Sunday Times ) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Review
To understand Ireland, you have to understand the GAA. To understand the GAA, you have to read this book. A masterpiece. -- Tom Humphries An extraordinary saga - unflinching in its honesty. This book is to hurling what Eamon Dunphy's seminal Only a Game? was to soccer writing -- Richard Fitzpatrick Irish Examiner This is one of the best sports that has been written in Ireland. You'll cry a lot, if you have a soul. And if you love sport, you'll love this book. Ger Gilroy Deserves its place among the most courageous Irish sports books ever conceived, and one of the finest ever written -- Michael Foley Sunday Times
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Christy O'Connor's "The Club" will feature in a lot of Christmas stockings this year, and depending on the recipient, it will be a quirky insight into a world that some GAA supporters never knew existed, or else one of the most engaging and relevant books that they've ever read.
The distinction is quite simple. If the reader is a GAA supporter, but has never actually been involved with a club beyond playing underage, then this book will open a door into the political and parochial minefield that is the workings of your local club. If, like most readers of this column, you've been a player, administrator or trainer at any level before, then this book encapsulates everything that you loved and hated about the workings of your club.
O'Connor has an insight that simply couldn't be replicated by many of the other writers out there, in the main because he himself has lived through everything. This is the player and clubman laying bare everything that makes a club tick, and indeed everything that makes it explode. Issues such as the fight for power between hurling and football, personality clashes, problems with the club WAGS, all of these aspects are touched upon along with every other minute little detail that makes up the rich tapestry of a club trying to get by.
It's compelling and engaging reading for anyone who has been on that side of the trenches, and probably should be prescribed reading for anyone who hasn't, and whose knowledge of the GAA begins and ends with the county sides.
The distinction is quite simple. If the reader is a GAA supporter, but has never actually been involved with a club beyond playing underage, then this book will open a door into the political and parochial minefield that is the workings of your local club. If, like most readers of this column, you've been a player, administrator or trainer at any level before, then this book encapsulates everything that you loved and hated about the workings of your club.
O'Connor has an insight that simply couldn't be replicated by many of the other writers out there, in the main because he himself has lived through everything. This is the player and clubman laying bare everything that makes a club tick, and indeed everything that makes it explode. Issues such as the fight for power between hurling and football, personality clashes, problems with the club WAGS, all of these aspects are touched upon along with every other minute little detail that makes up the rich tapestry of a club trying to get by.
It's compelling and engaging reading for anyone who has been on that side of the trenches, and probably should be prescribed reading for anyone who hasn't, and whose knowledge of the GAA begins and ends with the county sides.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read The Club over the Christmas Holiday. The book is based an account of 12 months activity in the Clare GAA Club, St Joseph's Doora-Barefield.
The Book appeals to me on several fronts: as a book about amateur team sports, as a book about the GAA, and, to a lesser extent, as a book about dealing with personal challenges.
I have played on lots of teams over the years - be that rugby, cricket or golf. I have captained a number of teams. I have also coached or mentored teams. And I have participated in club committees across a range of sports - committees all made up of members giving freely of their time. All of those experiences have included highs and lows, rewards and frustrations. Christy catches most of this in the book - power hungry committee members, frustrated coaches, family loyalties, passionate team talks, failed training sessions, elation after great wins, competing demands on people's time, the beauty of the game itself.
On the GAA front he brings out a number of issues - pressures on finances, importance of youth structures, competing demands for dual players, competing demands from other sports for players, the physical element of the game of hurling, the impact of the County Championship on Club sides (often prepared and ready to go - only to have matches put back to accomodate County matches). There is also some flavour of the tensions between new and old within the organisation.
In terms of personal challenges he experiences tragedy in his own life - and in some respects turns to what he knows, sport, as an escape (or perhaps to buy himself time as he deals with it). You also get some insight into the demands that senior club and intercounty sport put on the players and their loved ones. I did not feel the book dealt effectively with the group dynamics within this group of players - in fact to some extent that seemed to be missing in this particular group in this particular season. Great emphasis was put on winning the championship in memory of a player who died suddenly. If anything the book demonstrates that this is not enough to pull a team together to to drive to winning a championship.
I think sports people in general will enjoy the read - and empathise with many of the events and outcomes. I would not limit recommending the book to GAA people - in fact I think most GAA people will be only too familiar with many of the challenges, the highs and the lows.
The Book appeals to me on several fronts: as a book about amateur team sports, as a book about the GAA, and, to a lesser extent, as a book about dealing with personal challenges.
I have played on lots of teams over the years - be that rugby, cricket or golf. I have captained a number of teams. I have also coached or mentored teams. And I have participated in club committees across a range of sports - committees all made up of members giving freely of their time. All of those experiences have included highs and lows, rewards and frustrations. Christy catches most of this in the book - power hungry committee members, frustrated coaches, family loyalties, passionate team talks, failed training sessions, elation after great wins, competing demands on people's time, the beauty of the game itself.
On the GAA front he brings out a number of issues - pressures on finances, importance of youth structures, competing demands for dual players, competing demands from other sports for players, the physical element of the game of hurling, the impact of the County Championship on Club sides (often prepared and ready to go - only to have matches put back to accomodate County matches). There is also some flavour of the tensions between new and old within the organisation.
In terms of personal challenges he experiences tragedy in his own life - and in some respects turns to what he knows, sport, as an escape (or perhaps to buy himself time as he deals with it). You also get some insight into the demands that senior club and intercounty sport put on the players and their loved ones. I did not feel the book dealt effectively with the group dynamics within this group of players - in fact to some extent that seemed to be missing in this particular group in this particular season. Great emphasis was put on winning the championship in memory of a player who died suddenly. If anything the book demonstrates that this is not enough to pull a team together to to drive to winning a championship.
I think sports people in general will enjoy the read - and empathise with many of the events and outcomes. I would not limit recommending the book to GAA people - in fact I think most GAA people will be only too familiar with many of the challenges, the highs and the lows.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The most interesting GAA book ever to be brought out... really gives a unique insight into the everyday life of a GAA player and the community around them... men, women & children will enjoy this book!
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
A fine insight into the joys of amateur sport
Christy O'Connor's account of a year with his GAA Club offers a fascinating insight into the culture of gaelic sport but lacks the flourishes that would distinguish it as a classic... Read more
Published 4 months ago by J A C Corbett
Good but not top notch
read this book and was expecting something of the class of 'only a game' (Dunphy) or 'season the the brink' (Feinstein). Read more
Published 17 months ago by Shoulders
Exceptionally well written account of a year in the life of a GAA club
The thrills, disappointments, hopes and dreams etc could be from any GAA club but the author has written with such honest emotion and passion it makes this book stand out from all... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Marie
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
