‘O’Neill’s storytelling here has an enthralling fireside quality … A book to sink into, in other words, and one not to be missed’ Guardian

‘A meticulously constructed marvel … Nobody else’s fiction tears up the ground quite like O’Neill’s profoundly introspective novels … his stories are marvels of narrative magic and stylistic panache … Like Godwin, this novelist is a player whose charges and feints will leave you amazed — and defeated’ Washington Post

‘Delightful, funny … rapidly told in masterful prose’ Financial Times

‘Erudite, wide-roving, politically engaged’ Telegraph

‘O’Neill is to privileged white guys in crisis what Sally Rooney is to young intellectuals in love… A new and moving take on his usual tale of masculine doom, which gives this deceptively light comic novel a subtly profound undertow…it’s all enjoyable’ The Times

‘Absorbing … picaresque’ Vogue

‘Exciting and incisive … This has all the velocity and swerve of an unstoppable free kick’ Publishers Weekly

‘Minute, hilariously observed, and poignant … replete with laugh-out-loud observations, gorgeously turned phrases, and exhilarating dialogue … I wish there were more books like this’ Elif Batuman, author of Either/Or

‘A fantastic novel, brilliantly crafted, using such a clever lens to explore the world of football … I loved it’ Marcus du Sautoy, author of Around the World in 80 Games

‘A comedic hunt for raw footballing talent in Africa explores a new kind of colonialism’ Guardian

‘Populous, lively and intellectually challenging’ New York Times Book Review

‘I didn’t want it to end … You absolutely have to read this … What an achievement. Among the best novels I’ve read in a long time’ Bill Buford, author of Among the Thug

‘An astonishing marathon of storytelling’ Kirkus Reviews

‘An exercise in realism by one of its finer contemporary disciples’ Vulture