The past week alone at the World Cup has boasted enough melodrama to furnish whole seasons of daytime TV: joys and sorrows, outrages and inspirations, barnburners and depressing duds, Cinderellas and squeaky bum time. Between these plot points, those utterly ubiquitous (and totally innocuous!) sports gambling ads, and a truly upsetting number of David Beckham appearances, it’s easy to see why so many people have gotten caught up in the hullabaloo … and why others (like me) could really use some sensory deprivation already.

Now that we’re one month deep in the tournament, it’s fair to feel interested and overwhelmed. My coping mechanism amid media maelstroms such as these tends to be to step away from the screen, hyperventilate into a paper bag and promptly retreat into a book. I find reading about any massive spectacle can lend critical context and mitigate the full brunt of its neural onslaught – with the added benefit, in this case, of significantly lowering my daily Beckham intake.

For better or worse, though, the only soccer book that immediately leaps to mind for me doesn’t involve much soccer. I’m thinking here of Among the Thugs, Bill Buford’s early ‘90s masterpiece of gonzo reportage and sociology, in which the American expat embeds with an English hooligan group supporting Manchester United. I can’t explain what it was last year that drew me back to the book, which I hadn’t opened since I was assigned it in college. But my word, there was no mistaking the disquieting sense of recognition evoked by this portrait of violence, xenophobia and ungodly quantities of lager. More than three decades after its publication, Buford’s book feels awfully prescient in light of the rising tide of nationalism and authoritarianism worldwide.

The book certainly still warrants reading still – but I’ll admit it’s not the best resource for those looking to learn more about the actual game played with a ball on a field, or get to know it in the intimate way that’s only possible in the true lies of great fiction. During the last World Cup, in 2022, NPR’s Bill Chappell pulled together a short list of books to this end, and Roger Bennett – noted Man in Blazer – talked to NPR about his own history of the World Cup a few months ago.

But I’m greedy, and still pretty disoriented, so now I’m putting the question to you fine folks: Have you encountered any great novels or nonfiction featuring the beautiful game? I mean a book that illuminates the sport as it’s played today, passes along beloved lore, or weaves from it a new, compelling story that got its hooks in you — and that could offer me a welcome reprieve during the next extended commercial break. Let us know at bookoftheday@npr.org.Your help will be much appreciated!