{"product_id":"football-9780593490648","title":"Football","description":"\u003cb\u003eA hilarious but nonetheless groundbreaking contribution to the argument about which force shapes American life the most. For two kinds of readers--those who know it's football and those who are about to find out.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eChuck Klosterman--\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling critic, journalist, and, yes, football psychotic--did not write this book to deepen your appreciation of the game. He's not trying to help you become that person at the party, or to teach you how to make better bets, or to validate any preexisting views you might have about the sport (positive or negative). \u003ci\u003eFootball\u003c\/i\u003e does, in fact, do all of those things. But not in the way such things have been done in the past, and never in a way any normal person would expect. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eCultural theorists talk about hyperobjects--phenomena that bulk so large that their true dimensions are hidden in plain sight. In 2023, 93 of the 100 most-watched programs on U.S. television were NFL football games. This is not an anomaly. This is how society is best understood. Football is not merely the country's most popular sport; it is engrained in almost everything that explains what America is, even for those who barely pay attention. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eKlosterman gets to the bottom of all of it. He takes us to a metaphorical projection of Texas, where the religion of six-man football merges with America's Team [\u003ci\u003esic\u003c\/i\u003e] and makes an inexplicable impact on a boy in North Dakota. He dissects the question of natural greatness, the paradox of gambling and war, and the timeless caricature of the uncompromising head coach. He interrogates the perfection of football's marriage with television and the morality of acceptable risk. He even conjures an extinction-level event. If Zizek liked the SEC more than he liked cinema, if Stephen Jay Gould cared about linebackers more than he cared about dinosaurs, if Steve Martin played quarterback instead of the banjo . . . it would still be nothing like this. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA century ago, Yale's legendary coach Walter Camp wrote his unified theory of the game. He called it \u003ci\u003eFootball\u003c\/i\u003e. Chuck Klosterman has given us a new Camp for the new age, rooted in a personal history he cannot escape.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Chuck Klosterman\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Penguin Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/20\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 304\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.00lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.30h x 6.20w x 1.00d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780593490648\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e 01\/01\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 11\/24\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 12\/01\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChuck Klosterman is the bestselling author of ten nonfiction books (including \u003ci\u003eThe Nineties; Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs\u003c\/i\u003e; and \u003ci\u003eBut What If We're Wrong?\u003c\/i\u003e), two novels (\u003ci\u003eDowntown Owl\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Visible Man\u003c\/i\u003e), and the short story collection \u003ci\u003eRaised in Captivity\u003c\/i\u003e. He has written for \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eGQ \u003c\/i\u003e(London), \u003ci\u003eEsquire\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSpin\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e (London), \u003ci\u003eThe Believer\u003c\/i\u003e, and ESPN. Klosterman served as the Ethicist for The \u003ci\u003eNew York Times Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e for three years and was an original founder of the website Grantland with Bill Simmons. He was raised in rural North Dakota and now lives in Portland, Oregon.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"booksdeli.com","offers":[{"title":"Chuck Klosterman \/ Hardcover \/ English","offer_id":47598556381341,"sku":"9780593490648","price":50.53,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0619\/5648\/9373\/files\/img_ffc33f8a-e429-4a7c-bafe-76b29aa346c3.jpg?v=1769516036","url":"https:\/\/booksdeli.com\/products\/football-9780593490648","provider":"booksdeli.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}