Bobby Fischer Vs. the Rest of the World

By Brad Darrach

In 1972, an epic chess match took place in Iceland between representatives of the two great super-powers of the world: Bobby vs. Boris. Boris was backed by the Mighty Soviet Union, with late night... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812818504
• ISBN13: 9780812818505
• Release Date: January 1975
• Publisher: Stein & Day Pub
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.

Customer Reviews

From the Inside Cover

Are you ready for Bobby Fischer? For people-watchers everywhere, Brad Darrach uncovers the sometimes grotesque, often hilarious secret life of Fischer the Great. Through screaming tantrums, paranoid panics, greedy schemes, orgies of eating, desperate loneliness and magnificent courage, he reveals sides of Bobby never seen before. Writing with eye-witness force, Darrach shows Bobby in action--artfully handling international diplomacy ("I'm gonna teach those Icelandic creeps a lesson!"), striving for fairness in his business deals ("I don't want anybody to make money out of me!"), graciously discussing his opponent Boris Spassky ("I'm crushing him with brute force! Haaaaaa!") and accepting the adulation of his fans ("Tell 'em if they bother me any more, I'll go home!"). Delving into the past, Darrach also reveals the origins of Bobby's chess genius, his peculiar relationship with his mother, his life as a teenage hermit in a rubble-filled Brooklyn apartment, his conversion to an extremist religious sect, and his curious attitude toward young women. Advance readers have hailed his book as the most deliciously indiscreet biography ever written.

Inspiration for the phrase 'next best thing to being there'

How do you review a rainbow? Summarize a sunset? Paraphrase a pearl? I won't even attempt to. Let's face it, this is not Shakespeare and lord knows, the subject of the book is no Saint Francis of Assisi. Accept the book for what it is, however, and you're in for quite an enjoyable ride. Darrach's metaphors alone are worth the price of the book. They're sprinkled liberally throughout; and when you hit them you'll cry with laughter or shake your head in amazement - or both. Thinking of buying this book? Let me put it to you this way: I once sent an email to someone who was INTIMATELY involved in these proceedings in Iceland asking him for some first hand opinions of the 'doings' there, and he referred me to this book. That's reason enough, but once again the writing style, structure, pacing and characterizations almost defy description. This book invites re-readings. I hate the word 'brilliant', but I'll say it. Brilliant.

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