Babysitting George

The Last Days of a Soccer Icon

Nonfiction, Sports, Football (Soccer), Biography & Memoir
Cover of the book Babysitting George by Celia Walden, Bloomsbury Publishing
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Celia Walden ISBN: 9781620400630
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Publication: November 27, 2012
Imprint: Bloomsbury USA Language: English
Author: Celia Walden
ISBN: 9781620400630
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication: November 27, 2012
Imprint: Bloomsbury USA
Language: English

As a young reporter, Celia Walden receives an unusual assignment: track down a global superstar and keep him away from all other journalists. That man is soccer player George Best, who made his debut for Manchester United at age seventeen and was the star of a star team throughout the 1960s. Enormously skilled and ruggedly handsome, idolized by men and women alike, he was referred to as "the fifth Beatle," and still holds a firm place among the world's all-time best players.

But in 2004, George Best is nearing sixty and deteriorating like a much older man. A notorious alcoholic and philanderer, he has just received a liver transplant and has Antabuse tablets sewn into his stomach lining. His wife has left him again. When Celia finds him in a bar in Malta, he isn't exactly delighted to see her. He's been chased by journalists all his life. Yet as Celia's assignment to "babysit" George around the clock stretches out over months, an unlikely sort of friendship develops, and she gets to know George as a funny, volatile, and complex human being, an avid reader and member of MENSA, ravaged by alcohol and gradually withering under the constant glare of the spotlight.

Babysitting George is a tender account of a unique relationship between a young journalist and a dying star. It questions the exploitative nature of tabloid journalism; the terrifying, all-consuming nature of addiction; and the implausible meetings that can change one's life.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

As a young reporter, Celia Walden receives an unusual assignment: track down a global superstar and keep him away from all other journalists. That man is soccer player George Best, who made his debut for Manchester United at age seventeen and was the star of a star team throughout the 1960s. Enormously skilled and ruggedly handsome, idolized by men and women alike, he was referred to as "the fifth Beatle," and still holds a firm place among the world's all-time best players.

But in 2004, George Best is nearing sixty and deteriorating like a much older man. A notorious alcoholic and philanderer, he has just received a liver transplant and has Antabuse tablets sewn into his stomach lining. His wife has left him again. When Celia finds him in a bar in Malta, he isn't exactly delighted to see her. He's been chased by journalists all his life. Yet as Celia's assignment to "babysit" George around the clock stretches out over months, an unlikely sort of friendship develops, and she gets to know George as a funny, volatile, and complex human being, an avid reader and member of MENSA, ravaged by alcohol and gradually withering under the constant glare of the spotlight.

Babysitting George is a tender account of a unique relationship between a young journalist and a dying star. It questions the exploitative nature of tabloid journalism; the terrifying, all-consuming nature of addiction; and the implausible meetings that can change one's life.

More books from Bloomsbury Publishing

Cover of the book Audition Speeches for Women by Celia Walden
Cover of the book Strike Out Where Not Applicable by Celia Walden
Cover of the book 'Weldon Rising' & 'Disappeared' by Celia Walden
Cover of the book Fantastically Great Women Who Worked Wonders by Celia Walden
Cover of the book The Patron Saint of Butterflies by Celia Walden
Cover of the book What Would Keith Richards Do? by Celia Walden
Cover of the book Leibniz on God and Religion by Celia Walden
Cover of the book The Fifth Gospel (New Edition) by Celia Walden
Cover of the book Badajoz 1812 by Celia Walden
Cover of the book The Birds of Turkey by Celia Walden
Cover of the book The Coming by Celia Walden
Cover of the book Electronic Dreams by Celia Walden
Cover of the book The Postmodern Saints of France by Celia Walden
Cover of the book Teaching Religious Education by Celia Walden
Cover of the book No Place For a Lady by Celia Walden
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy