Ten years in the making, this A-Z of credulity-twanging facts and stories includes definitive explanations of everyday phrases such as "keep your shape" and "low center of gravity", a complete guide to becoming a terrace wit, how Alex Stepney broke his jaw by shouting, why the old-fashioned British center-half is like a red squirrel, and hundreds of other fantastic tales from what Pele once memorably dubbed "My bloody job." This collection addresses key hitherto ignored aspects of this game, for example the relationship with country music and its long tradition of football-related songs. Johnny Cash dubbed himself "The Man in Black" in homage to his idol, referee Arthur Ellis, and "I Walk the Line" is arguably the greatest song ever written about the life of an assistant referee.

Dribble!: The Unbelievable Encyclopaedia of Football

Literature & Fiction

Pearson, Harry

Literary

Little, Brown Book Group

Inspired by the efforts of 1950s comic writer Alex Atkinson who wrote a travelogue about the USA without bothering to visit it, Harry Pearson embarks on an epic trip around the globe without leaving his office except for the obvious necessities (snacks, bathroom breaks and removing an electrocuted mouse from inside the toaster). Using the Internet, he traverses an incredible virtual world where natural wonders are rendered all the more remarkable by the florid language of computer translation programmes ("Glorious opinions of the provincial topography can be had from our high-up windows"). By train, car, motorbike, and yacht, as well as homepage, live cam, and blog, the author traverses the planet; fights off wave after wave of Spam-hucksters ("Want to make love like you were a teenager again?" What, you mean, on my own?); barters with locals using the recognized currency of the cyberspace—trivia; tries very hard not to be distracted from the appalling situation in Tajikstan by the news that a group of men in Michigan regularly recreate the great medieval battles using thousands of Playmobile figures; and along the way learns about truth, beauty, and why his septic tank is a ticking time bomb.

Around the World by Mouse

Humor & Entertainment

Humor

This is a book about men and war. Not real conflict but war as it has filtered down to generations of boys and men through toys, comics, games, and movies. Harry Pearson belongs to the great battalion of men who grew up playing with toy soldiers—refighting World War II—and then stopped growing up. Inspired by the photos of the gallant pilot uncles that decorated the wall above his father's model-making table, by toys such as Action Man (according to Pearson—not a doll) and board games such as Escape from Colditz, dressed in Clarks' commando shoes and with the Airfix Army in support, he battled in the fields and on the beaches, in his head and on the living room floor, and across his bedroom ceiling. And 30 years later he still is. This hilariously self-deprecating memoir is a celebration of those glory days, a boy's own story of the urge to play, to conquer, and to adopt very bad German accents, shouting "Donner und Blitzen!" at every opportunity. This is a tale of obsession, glue, and plastic kits. It is the story of one boy's imaginary war and where it led him.

Achtung Schweinehund!: A Boy's Own Story of Imaginary Combat

Biographies & Memoirs

Memoirs

Racing Pigs and Giant Marrows

Little,Brown

Slipless in Settle is a sentimental journey around club cricket in the north of England, a world far removed from the clichÃ©d lengthening-shadows-on-the-village-green image of the summer game. This is hardcore cricket played in former pit villages and mill towns. Winner of the 2011 MCC Cricket Book of the Year, it is about the little clubs that have, down the years, produced some of the greatest players Britain has ever seen, and at one time spent a fortune on importing the biggest names in the international game to boost their battle for local supremacy.Slipless in Settle is a warm, affectionate and outrageously funny sporting odyssey in which Andrew Flintoff and Learie Constantine rub shoulders with Asbo-tag-wearing all-rounders, there's hot-pot pie and mushy peas at the tea bar, two types of mild in the clubhouse, and a batsman is banned for a month for wearing a fireman's helmet when going out to face Joel Garner . . .

Slipless In Settle: A Slow Turn Around Northern Cricket

Sports & Outdoors

Hiking & Camping

A book in which Wilf Mannion rubs shoulders with The Sunderland Skinhead, recollections of Len Shakleton blight the lives of village shoppers, and the appointment of Kevin Keegan as manager of Newcastle is celebrated by a man in a leather stetson, crooning "For The Good Times" to the accompaniment of a midi organ. The Far Corner is a tale of heroism, human frailty, passion, and the perils of eating an egg mayonnaise stottie without staining your trousers.

The Far Corner: A Mazy Dribble Through North-East Football

Soccer

Racing Pigs and Giant Marrows: Travels Around the North Country Fairs

Harry Pearson vowed that his next project would be about the summer—specifically, about a summer of shows and fairs in the north of England. Encompassing such diverse talents as fell-running, tupperware-boxing, and rabbit fancying (literally), and containing many more jokes about goats than is legal in the Isle of Man, Racing Pigs and Giant Marrows must be the only book in existence to explain the design faults of earwigs.

Travel

Europe

ABACUS +

Can any nation whose most famous monument is a statue of a small boy urinating really be that dull? Harry Pearson lived In Belgium for several months, burying himself in the local culture. He drank many of the 800 different beers the Belgians produce, and ate local delicacies such as kip kap, or jellied pig cheeks. This book commemorates strange events such as The Festival of Shrimps at Oostduinkerke, and laments the passing of the Underpant Museum in Brussels.

A Tall Man in a Low Land: Some Time Among the Belgians

Science Fiction & Fantasy

Gaming

Hound Dog Days: One Dog and His Man: A Story of North Country Life and Canine Contentment

A decade and one dog after penning Racing Pigs And Giant Marrows, and inspired by the purchase of his new hound, a petit basset-griffon Vendeen called Little Man, Harry Pearson returns to the world of stalking, ferreting, and beating with this ramble through the countryside. Harry Pearson was born into a dog-loving family and grew up with a variety of spaniels, terriers, collies, and mongrels. He currently spends several hours every day running along behind a bassett-griffon pretending he really intended to go that way himself. Within these pages are anecdotes culled from 45 years of living with dogs, wise observations on canine and human behavior, historical tales of famous dogs, learned speculations on nature, and descriptions of life in the real English countryside—a place where there are otters in the river, glue-sniffers in the woods, and fisticuffs over fishing rights.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Pearson, Harry. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Pearson, Harry

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Pearson, Harry. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Dribble!: The Unbelievable Encyclopaedia of Football

Around the World by Mouse

Achtung Schweinehund!: A Boy's Own Story of Imaginary Combat

Racing Pigs and Giant Marrows

Slipless In Settle: A Slow Turn Around Northern Cricket

The Far Corner: A Mazy Dribble Through North-East Football

Racing Pigs and Giant Marrows

A Tall Man in a Low Land: Some Time Among the Belgians

Achtung Schweinehund!: A Boy's Own Story of Imaginary Combat

Hound Dog Days: One Dog and His Man: A Story of North Country Life and Canine Contentment