It's Always Summer Somewhere: A Matter of Life and Cricket - A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK & SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLE

· Hachette UK
5.0
5 reviews
Ebook
384
Pages
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About this ebook

*****

A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK & SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

"Felix White's beautifully, elegantly and passionately written book reminds me why I love cricket so much. And reading, come to that." - Stephen Fry

"The love of cricket is both communal and individual. Felix has a wonderful knack of evoking both in a book full of life, joy and resilience." - Gideon Haigh

"Whether you love cricket or are still confused by the rules of the game, you'll love this. Felix's writing is warm and witty. A joy to read." - Cariad Lloyd

Felix White, for reasons often beyond him, has always been deeply in love with cricket. His passion for the game is at the fore on the BBC 's number one cricket podcast and 5Live show, Tailenders, which he co-presents with Greg James and Jimmy Anderson. It's Always Summer Somewhere is his funny, heartbreaking and endlessly engaging love letter to the game.

Felix takes us through his life growing up in South West London and describes how his story is forever punctuated and given meaning by cricket. Through his own exploits as a slow left arm spinner of 'lovely loopy stuff', to the tragic illness of his mother, life with The Maccabees and his cricket redemption, Felix touches on both the comedic and the tragic in equal measure. Throughout, there's the ever-present roller coaster of following the England cricket team. The exploits of Tufnell (another bowler of 'lovely loopy stuff'), Atherton, Hussain et al, are given extra import through the eyes of a cricket-obsessed youth. Felix meets them at each signposted moment to find out what was really behind those moments that gave cricket fans everywhere sporting memories that would last forever, sending the book into an exploration of grief, transgenerational displacement and how the people we've known and things we've loved culminate and take expression in our lives.

It's Always Summer Somewhere is an incredibly honest detail of a life lived with cricket. It offers a sense of genuine empathy and understanding not just with cricket fans, but sports and music fans across the world, in articulating our reasons for pouring so much meaning into something that we simply cannot control. Culminating in the heart-stopping World Cup Final in 2019, the book finally answers that question fans have so often asked... what is it about this game?

Ratings and reviews

5.0
5 reviews
Darren Dyer
January 30, 2022
The way Felix talks about both cricket and music so eloquently, it makes me fall in love with both of them all over again. Hell, it even inspired me to dig out a Bob Dylan CD! A truly wonderful book of memoirs with so many things I can relate to.
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About the author

Felix White is a musician, broadcaster and co-founder of independent record label, Yala! He has also, for as long as his conscious memory extends, been in love with the game of cricket. Neither of his parents - from Lebanon and the Isle of Wight - were into the game, so it is a slight mystery to everyone that he took to it as much as he did. He co-presents BBC podcast Tailenders with Greg James and England's most successful ever fast bowler Jimmy Anderson, which has proved a 'safe space' in which to channel his enthusiasm for it regularly. The Maccabees, the band for whom he is renowned, released four studio albums and split at their commercial peak after 14 years together, off the back of a UK number one album and major festival headline shows. He lives in South London where he continues to work on numerous musical projects, including film scores, and has still not overcome his rational fear of a cricket ball.

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