On Warne
by Gideon Haigh
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Pub Date Oct 24 2012 | Archive Date Jan 19 2013
Penguin Books Australia | Hamish Hamilton
Description
Gideon Haigh on Shane Warne is an irresistible pairing: 'the finest cricket
writer alive' (The Australian) on the greatest cricketer of our times.
The resulting masterpiece is as much about our fascination with Warnie as it is
about the player himself.
Now that the Australian cricketer who dominated
airwaves and headlines for twenty years has turned full-time celebrity and media
event, his sporting conquests and controversies are receding steadily into the
past.
But what was it like to watch Warne at his long peak, the man of a
thousand international wickets, the incarnation of Australian audacity and
cheek? Our leading cricket writer, Gideon Haigh, lived and loved the Warne era,
when the impossible was everyday, and the sensational every other day.
In On Warne, he relives the era's highs, its lows, its fun and
its follies. Drawing on interviews conducted with Warne over the course of a
decade, and two decades of watching him play, Haigh assesses this greatest of
sportsmen as cricketer, character, comrade, newsmaker and national figure – a
natural in an increasingly regimented time, a simplifier in a growingly
complicated world. The result is one of the finest cricket books ever written, a
whole new way of looking at its subject, at sport, and at Australia.
One day, you might be asked what cricket in the time of Warne was like. On Warne is the definitive account.
A Note From the Publisher
Only AUSTRALIAN media, bloggers, educators and booksellers will be granted access to titles published by Penguin Books Australia.
Advance Praise
'A conventional biography would somehow obscure Warne's story. A cricket writer as peerless as Haigh knows this. Haigh's is an exquisite treatment . . . his eye for relevant detail is astonishing . . . You get the feeling that Haigh understands Warne's mastery better than Warne himself, and he never fails to capture it crisply . . . Warne's wizardry is rich enough to unleash Haigh's, and Haigh's wizardry brings Warne's to life anew.' Waleed Aly, The Monthly
'Haigh's utterly addictive book traces how and why Warne became different . . . A marvellous analysis of the Warne mystique and the prodigious talent feeding it. This is cricket writing as art, turning the creative leaps familiar in fiction or literary non-fiction to the task of anatomising the ungraspable nature of genius. On Warne is a sublime treat.' Brain Matthews, Australian Book Review
'Haigh's brilliant turn of phrase is mesmerising. He manages to be neither assassin nor cheerleader in his examination of the cricketing great. Rather than a bland biography, this is a study of what makes Warne a sometimes tragic, often amusing, usually polarising and always intriguing figure.' Scott Moore, The Advertiser (Adelaide)
'Brilliantly incisive but also affectionate . . . Packed with insight and interpretation.' Peter Pierce, Weekend Australian
'This book reveals two of life's certainties: one, that Gideon Haigh is an outstanding writer, and two, that Shane Warne's tabloid-fodder life is utterly compelling. Bring the two together and you have a success on your hands . . . On Warne is a book for those who love cricket generally and Warnie specifically.' Fiona Crawford, Bookseller & Publisher
'An intimate study of one of the greatest cricketers of the modern era . . . Haigh writes with perception and humour . . . A book to be savoured now and into the future.' Peter Crossing, Canberra Times
'Exceptional . . . engrossing.' Herald Sun
'Haigh's latest book is tonic . . . For those all too ready to dismiss Warne as a naif whose failings were only excused by his ability to take wickets, On Warne presents a rather different picture.' Jeff Centenera, Inside Sport
'The Bradman of cricket writing spins us a yarn with deftness, skill and intrigue.' Taylor Auerbach, Sunday Telegraph
'Haigh writes as poetically as Warne bowled . . . Simply irresistible. A fabulous read.' Ken Piesse, Universal's Summer Cricket Tour Guide 2012-13
'Cricket has always attracted good writers, and the Australian journalist Gideon Haigh is undoubtedly among the finest at work today . . . On Warne is not a conventional biography but rather a characteristically sharp and elegant analysis of the Warne phenomenon.' Times Literary Supplement
'Gideon Haigh's slim, elegant book On Warne has its own kind of
confidence . . . Haigh is an excellent essayist.' Ed Smith, New
Statesman
'On Warne comes from the pen of the most gifted
cricket essayist of his generation, and this short book forms as shrewd and
entertaining a portrait as the era's outstanding cricketer deserves, with
moments of brilliant description . . . amusing and perceptive.' Richard
Williams, The Guardian
'Bloody brilliant . . . The second chapter in particular . . . is as good as anything I have read on the game . . . Haigh cuts out the extraneous information and concentrates on the essence.' Andy Bull, The Guardian
'The best cricketer of his generation deconstructed by the best cricket writer of his . . . This is a masterful book: affectionate yet detached, ceaselessly insightful yet formidably well written . . . Perhaps it is a cliche to refer to a biography as definitive; in this case it would be remiss not to do so.' Rob Smyth, The Cricketer (UK)
'Haigh's book is small but perfectly pitched. He has chosen one of the most magnetic sportsmen of the last 20 years, and he sees Shane Warne from every angle.' Daily Telegraph
'It's Haigh's analysis of Warne himself that inevitably, and rightly, steals
the show . . . My favourite Haigh book to date, and frankly there have been a
few.'
All Out Cricket
'Cricket has taken a back seat this summer, but there were two outstanding books about the game. On Warne by Gideon Haigh has a philosophical, essayist title for a tract by Australia's finest cricket writer on the greatest and most flamboyant spin bowler in history.' The Times
Available Editions
| EDITION | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9780670076604 |
| PRICE | A$35.00 (AUD) |
