Nearly Reach the Sky

If ever there was a football club that carries the cross for all others, it is West Ham United. Success, failure, heroism, boardroom stupidity, skulduggery - if it's happened at any club, you can bet it's happened at Upton Park. West Ham can be viewed from many angles. Brian Williams has chosen to take a sideways look at the club he has followed for fifty years. The author is a journalist for The Guardian. It's a serious newspaper, but a lifetime supporting West Ham meant Williams had no choice but to develop a sense of humour. And if he does ever get the misguided notion that he is a writer with literary pretensions, the East End family that he married into - and which features heavily in the book - has his feet back on the ground quicker than you can say 'pie and mash'. Nearly Reach the Sky is a collection of self-contained pieces that primarily reflect what it means to support West Ham, though much of it could apply to any football club. Some of the chapters are laugh-out-loud funny; others are eye-moisteningly poignant.And throughout the book there is the stark realisation that West Ham is on the verge of leaving the area that has been its home for more than 100 years, with all the nostalgia that entails. Nick Hornby meets Bill Bryson, Nearly Reach the Sky has all the hallmarks of a cult classic.