Book Review 2024.01: Thierry Henry, Lonely at the Top, A Biography, Philippe Auclair, 336 pages, Paperback, 2012
The new year eve weekend was all it took for me to complete this mesmerizing unauthorized biography of my favorite football hero, Thierry Henry, the legendary Arsenal striker, who like me is a declared “Lifelong Arsenal fan”, besides being the catalyst who ignited my love for Arsenal, Premier League and football, in that order.
Written by the French journalist Philippe Auclair, who matches Henry’s spellbinding ballet on the football field with his own captivating play of words, made me underline sentences every couple of pages to be reread and relished in the days to come, just as I have been watching replays of the iconic goals scored by, dare I say Titi, my idol’s pet childhood name.
The author providing a vivid portrait of Titi’s life from his childhood when he first started kicking a football to the infamous explosion of the French football team in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, South Africa, providing an objective, that often looks a ‘cruel’ dissection of the football icon and the man. What makes this biography endearing is the frequent shifting of the lens between impersonal objectivity that often borders on a rebuke of the Man, to the adoring eyes of a football fan as he describes some of the iconic goals scored and the context in which they were scored by the player.
In common with many biographies that I like, the author goes beyond the life of the individual to paint a vivid picture of the environment in which they lived and where the occasions demand provides the historical insights required to appreciate an event as it unfolds. Insights into football infrastructure for developing young talent in France, French football history, the challenges of integrating a racially diverse French population, and the latent racism prevalent in football much before it caught center-stage in the last few years are a few enticements for the interested reader.
I recommend this book to all football lovers, especially Arsenal fans, not only for the icon’s story it paints but also the lucid and engaging writing style and the nuggets of wisdom that is scattered right through it.
Happy reading and wish you a very happy 2024.
