BYLINER PUBLISHES THE FIRST E-BOOK EDITION OF SOCCER IN SUN AND SHADOW BY LEGENDARY AUTHOR EDUARDO GALEANO
“Is there any book more evocative of ‘the beautiful game’ than Eduardo Galeano’s slim but buoyant paean to the players, goals, joys, and heartbreaks of a lifetime of soccer fandom?” —Vanity Fair
May 14, 2013—San Francisco— One of the great sports books of our time, Soccer in Sun and Shadow ($9.99), by internationally celebrated novelist and journalist Eduardo Galeano and translated by Mark Fried, is now available for the first time as an e-book. Brimming with wit and charm and the kind of insight only a true fan could bring, it “stands out like Pelé on a field of second stringers,” says The New Yorker. Sports Illustrated has named it one of the “Top 100 Sports Books of All Time.”
Originally appearing in Spanish in 1995, now revised and thoroughly updated, Soccer in Sun and Shadow traces the sport from its roots in China to the Brazilian slums where the dance form capoeira reshaped it into a soccer “made of hip feints, undulations of the torso, and legs in flight,” and finally through the great moments of a century’s worth of competition in all corners of the globe.
These stories come addictively fast and furious, vignettes with the searing impact of great photographs. And as would be expected of one of our most accomplished historians, Galeano sets every one of them against a greater context: the wars being waged, the cultural shifts transforming societies, and what inflames him the most: the inexorable influences of money, sponsorship, television, and any form of cold, hard calculation that aims to place winning for its own sake above the beauty and glory of the game.
“[I am] a beggar for good soccer,” writes Galeano, who grew up in Uruguay hoping to become a professional soccer player. “I go about the world, hand outstretched, and in the stadiums I plead: ‘A pretty move, for the love of God.’ ” The past century’s great players, from Di Stéfano to Cruyff to Maradona, reward him with such moves, and we are all the richer for it. At times hilarious, at others heartbreaking, one thing it never lacks is humanity. Soccer in Sun and Shadow is a fan’s book, and it’s much more. Featuring artwork designed by the author, it has been called by the San Francisco Chronicle “a loving tribute to the game and its culture, and a celebration not only of soccer but also of life.”
About the Author: Eduardo Galeano is one of Latin America’s most distinguished writers. He is the author of the three-volume Memory of Fire, as well as Open Veins of Latin America, Mirrors, and many other books that have been translated into thirty languages. His new book is Children of the Days, published by Nation Books. He is the recipient of the Lannan Prize for Cultural Freedom, the American Book Award, the Casa de las Américas Prize, and the First Distinguished Citizen of the region by the countries of Mercosur.
About Byliner: Byliner works directly with the world’s best writers to deliver great stories to readers. We publish original fiction and nonfiction by top authors, including bestsellers such as Amy Tan’s Rules for Virgins, Margaret Atwood’s Positron, Jon Krakauer’s Three Cups of Deceit, Ann Patchett’s The Getaway Car, Nick Hornby’s Everyone’s Reading Bastard, Buzz Bissinger’s After Friday Night Lights, Chuck Palahniuk’s Phoenix, Alexandra Fuller’s Falling, Richard Russo’s Nate in Venice, and Sebastian Junger’s A World Made of Blood. These quick-read stories are written to be read in two hours or less, and can be purchased individually through major digital bookstores. The entire Byliner Originals library is available online to Byliner subscribers, who also get access to premium content from our by-invitation community of writers—including thousands of rarely seen and exclusive stories by bestselling authors.
Soccer in Sun and Shadow is available for $9.99 at the Kindle Store at Amazon, at Apple’s iBookstore, at BarnesAndNoble.com, and at Kobo. For a review copy, please contact Clare Hertel at clare@byliner.com; 505-474-6783.
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