{"product_id":"9780061850189","title":"The Thinking Fan's Guide to the World Cup","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Thinking Fan's Guide to the World Cup\u003c\/em\u003e features original pieces by thirty-two leading writers and journalists about the thirty-two nations that have qualified for the world's greatest sporting event. In addition to all the essential information any fan needs—the complete 2006 match schedule, results from past tournaments, facts and figures about the nations, players, teams, and referees—here are essays that shine a whole new light on soccer and the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eFormer Foreign Minister of Mexico Jorge G. Castañeda invites George W. Bush to watch a game.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eNovelist Robert Coover remembers soccer in Spain after the death of General Francisco Franco.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eDave Eggers on America, and the gym teachers who kept it free from communism.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cem\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eTime\u003c\/em\u003e magazine's Tokyo bureau chief Jim Frederick shows how soccer is displacing baseball in Japan.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eNovelist Aleksandar Hemon proves, once and for all, that sex and soccer do not mix.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eNovelist John Lanchester describes the indescribable: the beauty of Brazilian soccer.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cem\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/em\u003e's Cressida Leyshon on Trinidad and Tobago, 750-1 underdogs.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eFever Pitch\u003c\/em\u003e author Nick Hornby on the conflicting call of club and country.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003ePlus an afterword by Franklin Foer on the form of government most likely to win the World Cup.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"HarperCollins Publishers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47105254785264,"sku":"9780061850189","price":1.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780061850189_p0.jpg?v=1769888180","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780061850189","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}