Bloody Confused!: A Clueless American Sportswriter Seeks Solace in English Soccer

After the World Cup of '06, which for some reason I can't answer, I followed closely, I found myself hungry for more soccer. That led me to the English Premiership, which led me to fall in love with the game. Or maybe I fell in love with what I didn't know about the game. It was like being a child again and loving sports for just being sports.

Mr. Culpepper has written an insightful, quirky, ironic, beautiful, funny account of what Americans truly are in so many aspects of life--clueless. But mostly sweet about it.

If you're a soccer fan, you'll love it. If you know nothing about soccer, you may love it even more.

Because it captures a cynical sports writer's journey to become childlike again. I have a feeling if Mark Twain had ever become a Portsmouth fan--the book would be a lot like this.

Definitely read it. It makes one glad they're alive.

This book by Chuck Culpepper is a very well written account of a man who forsakes American sports in search of English football. The humorous chronicle of an American being thrust into the culture of English soccer provides an excellent backdrop as the book examines what makes the English Premiership the most popular sports league in the world...I highly recommend this book to any American who follows the beautiful game cause it describes very well the emotions that are entailed when following a club without being wrought into the culture.

Disappointing. I REALLY wanted to like this book and I think I might have, if I did not already follow the EPL religiously. It is probably a good introduction to English football, but not much more. For a quality substitute try The Miracle of Castel di Sangro: A Tale of Passion and Folly in the Heart of Italy, which is extremely well written and just a better story.

Let me begin by stating my credentials: I know as much about soccer as I know about knitting, which is to say I know very little. Sportswriter Chuck Culpepper knew just a little more than I when he moved to England and decided to become a fan of the Premier League.

During the first part of "Bloody Confused" Culpepper belabors the point that he was suffering from burnout from watching and interviewing pampered American athletes. The fun really begins when the writer allows the reader to get past this and move on to Culpepper's introduction to the Premiership and how he decides which team he is going to adopt as his very own so that he can once again be a "fan."

Reading this book made me want to go to England and begin following the Premiership teams. The idea of traveling the country by train to see the "four mastodons" playing Goliath to the other teams' David sounds great. Watching teams trying to stave off "relegation" sounds very exciting. And watching teams from lower leagues trying to "play up" to achieve Premiership status sounds fantastic.

I'm not sure how "Bloody Confused" will be accepted by people who are already knowledgeable Premiership fans, but it left me wanting to get on the train to go see Portsmouth play Chelsea.

I'm almost done with this book but I already know that I would recommend this book to any soccer fan, and especially any Premiership fan! It's great to read about all the events to go on during a game in the stands. All of the Non-soccer information is also great to read about!