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| Bloody Confused!: A Clueless American Sportswriter Seeks Solace in English Soccer | 
 enlarge | Author: Chuck Culpepper
Publisher: Broadway
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy New: $8.07
You Save: $5.88 (42%)
New (35) Used (8) from $8.06
Avg. Customer Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 8757
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.8
ISBN: 0767928083
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.3340942
EAN: 9780767928083
ASIN: 0767928083
Publication Date: August 5, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new item. Over 3.5 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Order with confidence. Code: B20081121221340T
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| Customer Reviews:
 Great insight into EPL Fandom September 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I thought this was a great book to read. Even though i've been following the EPL for several years, this book brought a bird's eye view of the weekly grind of being a professional sports fan. Great bar stories as well!
I also found it helpful to get a few tips on watching the EPL in person as an American traveler. I've always assumed you could just show up to a match that had seats available, declare your non-allegiance to any particular side and get in. Not so it seems. A little advanced planning is worth the effort or you'll be watching the fixtures like the author did; out in the street looking through holes in the fences.
Only drawback is Culpepper's American political rants here and there but they're sporadic enough to tolerate for an overall great read. I've shared the book w/ several other soccer friends and they've all enjoyed it as well.
Bloody Brilliant! September 12, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
After the World Cup of '06, which for some reason I can't answer, I followed closely, I found myself hungry for more soccer. That led me to the English Premiership, which led me to fall in love with the game. Or maybe I fell in love with what I didn't know about the game. It was like being a child again and loving sports for just being sports.
Mr. Culpepper has written an insightful, quirky, ironic, beautiful, funny account of what Americans truly are in so many aspects of life--clueless. But mostly sweet about it.
If you're a soccer fan, you'll love it. If you know nothing about soccer, you may love it even more.
Because it captures a cynical sports writer's journey to become childlike again. I have a feeling if Mark Twain had ever become a Portsmouth fan--the book would be a lot like this.
Definitely read it. It makes one glad they're alive.
A look into the hearts and minds of American Premiership fans September 8, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book by Chuck Culpepper is a very well written account of a man who forsakes American sports in search of English football. The humorous chronicle of an American being thrust into the culture of English soccer provides an excellent backdrop as the book examines what makes the English Premiership the most popular sports league in the world...I highly recommend this book to any American who follows the beautiful game cause it describes very well the emotions that are entailed when following a club without being wrought into the culture.
 For beginners only August 31, 2008
2 out of 6 found this review helpful
Disappointing. I REALLY wanted to like this book and I think I might have, if I did not already follow the EPL religiously. It is probably a good introduction to English football, but not much more. For a quality substitute try The Miracle of Castel di Sangro: A Tale of Passion and Folly in the Heart of Italy, which is extremely well written and just a better story.
A Fine Introduction to Premiership Culture August 30, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Let me begin by stating my credentials: I know as much about soccer as I know about knitting, which is to say I know very little. Sportswriter Chuck Culpepper knew just a little more than I when he moved to England and decided to become a fan of the Premier League.
During the first part of "Bloody Confused" Culpepper belabors the point that he was suffering from burnout from watching and interviewing pampered American athletes. The fun really begins when the writer allows the reader to get past this and move on to Culpepper's introduction to the Premiership and how he decides which team he is going to adopt as his very own so that he can once again be a "fan."
Reading this book made me want to go to England and begin following the Premiership teams. The idea of traveling the country by train to see the "four mastodons" playing Goliath to the other teams' David sounds great. Watching teams trying to stave off "relegation" sounds very exciting. And watching teams from lower leagues trying to "play up" to achieve Premiership status sounds fantastic.
I'm not sure how "Bloody Confused" will be accepted by people who are already knowledgeable Premiership fans, but it left me wanting to get on the train to go see Portsmouth play Chelsea.
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