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Content Zone
Mon 19-Oct-2009 22:54
More from this writer..
Shorts
Working on a Dream by Damian Lawlor
Working On A Dream
goes where no Irish sports book has ever gone before - behind the scenes with access to all areas of an intercounty GAA team, writes An Fear Rua...
In a year when we are being inundated with GAA books, this one stands out for its stylish writing, painstaking research and - as we've come to expect from Mr Lawlor - exquisite storytelling. We know there are many calls on fans' pockets in these straitened times, but if you have to make a choice of a GAA book for Christmas, this one merits serious consideration.
As well as sharing a dressing room with the team for an entire year, the author, Damian Lawlor, spends the 2009 season on trains, planes and automobiles with the Waterford footballers. Eternally rooted in Division 4 and the championship wasteland, they exist far away from the maddening crowds and struggle to survive at the bottom rung of the ladder. There are no perks, bonuses, financial incentives or packed houses. But while this is a clear look at life far below the GAA radar, this book is also a delightful depiction of grass-roots at its most wholesome.
A dramatic, lifelike and wholly entertaining picture is painted of life in the intercounty wilderness. There will never be a Croke Park outing for this team who usually play in front of five or six supporters and see most of their best players are pilfered by the high-profile and successful county hurling team.
But yet these die-hard and passionate footballers, each with their own remarkable story to tell, keep the flame alight. As their season progresses, both the squad and management are helpless to prevent their camp from being decimated by emigration, discrimination and job losses. Like every family, there are bereavements and a host of set-backs to deal with. Still, they persist to the bitter end. With each passing chapter a new sub-plot comes into play and weaves nicely into the overall theme of the book.
The underlying aim for the team is to get promotion from the lowest depths of the National League, which would be the equivalent of an All-Ireland title for these minnows. And with that in mind, every kick, misplaced pass, bus journey, score and individual struggle is recorded along a fascinating journey.
While based on a sporting theme, this book is primarily a human interest and personality-based piece of sporting non-fiction. John Kiely, the affable team manager, known as 'Jackson' is the central character in the book. His bubbly personality and infectious enthusiasm for the job radiates page after page of this compelling story, which is full of anecdotes and real-life sporting drama.
A year in the life of any team inevitably brings its own ups and down, highs and lows, success and failures.
Working On A Dream
is a frank, enlightening account of one team's season, their hopes and dreams. It is published by Mentor Books and may be purchased online
here
.
Damian Lawlor
, author of the bestselling
'I crossed the line'
, is GAA correspondent with the
Sunday Independent
. From Kilruane, Co Tipperary, he is an award-winning journalist and also a regular analyst of Gaelic Games on television and radio.
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