Football

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things. When is the "beautiful game" at its most beautiful? How does football function as a lens through which so many view their daily lives? What's right in front of fans that they never see? Football celebrates and scrutinizes the world's most popular sport-from top-tier professionals to children just learning the game. As an American who began playing football in the 1970s as it gained a foothold in the States, Mark Yakich reflects on his own experiences alongside the sport's social and political implications, its narrative and documentary depictions, and its linguistic idiosyncrasies. Illustrating how football can be at once absolutely vital and "only a game," this book will be surprising and insightful for the casual and diehard fan alike. Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic.

Mark Yakich is the Gregory F. Curtin, S.J. Distinguished Professor of English at Loyola University New Orleans, USA, where he has been editor of New Orleans Review since 2012. He is the author of the poetry collections Unrelated Individuals Forming a Group Waiting to Cross (2004), The Importance of Peeling Potatoes in Ukraine (2008), and Spiritual Exercises (2019); a novel, A Meaning for Wife (2011); and a guide to reading and writing poems Poetry: A Survivor's Guide (Bloomsbury, 2016).

1. Introduction to a Slightly New Game 2. A Concession 3. The Name of the Game 4. Popularity, Contests 5. Standstill 6. How to Make a Football 7. Two Games 8. 90-Minute Meds 9. Geisterspiel 10. Pickup 11. The Life-Changing Magic of Three-Touch 12. Of Nutmegs and Fish up a Tree 13. For the Love of a Pretty Move 14. Zone 15. A 21st Century Portrait 16. Zone Painting 17. Future Stronger in Color 18. Reset 19. The Best Seats 20. Hacking, Diving, Hugging 21. Intersectionality 22. Live Football in a Pandemic 23. Child's Play 24. Assessment Acknowledgments Index