Death of the Soccer God - by Dimitry Elias Léger (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

A global soccer star's epic ride to the 1950 World Cup places him in shooting distance of his dreams and his own death.

Gilbert Chevalier is a lover of life in a close and constant flirtation with death. His charms and big ambitions flood him with the sense that the world is, in fact, his. Despite his immense talents on the soccer field, his father makes him swear off the sport, a game he sees as unbecoming of a refined Haitian gentleman with a bright future ahead of him in the business sector. Gil promptly breaks this promise when he leaves the bourgeois comforts of Port-au-Prince high society and moves to the vibrant, jazz-soaked streets of Harlem to attend college. Scrimmaging in Central Park, he's spotted by the US National Team's coach and is recruited to play for the Americans in the 1950 World Cup in Minas Gerais, Brazil. What unravels next is the stuff of myth. Chance exchanges; secret messages smuggled across continents; lovers shuffled, scorned, and reclaimed; and a journey past the veil between our world and the afterlife. From the Caribbean, to the States, to South America and back, Gil's journey is lush and lurid, and infused with a breathless, breakneck thrill synonymous with the world's most popular game.

Death of the Soccer God by Dimitry Elias Legér is a roaring Pan American adventure about the unattainability of the dreams that govern our lives. Energized with the high-voltage fervor of a packed stadium, this is a story of fame and fate bursting with the vivid excitement and thrill of watching world-class athletes perform at their very best.

Review Quotes

"In Death of the Soccer God, Dimitry Elias Léger delivers a radiant, raucous, and unforgettable novel. Gilbert Chevalier--Haiti's prodigal striker who once stunned the world in Brazil--awaits execution in Fort Dimanche, and from those suspended seconds before the rifles fire unfolds a life of scandalous love, improbable triumph, and devastating betrayal. Léger's prose is lush, incantatory, alive with carnival excess and sudden poignancy, at once bawdy and prayerful. He turns the Beautiful Game into epic literature and Haiti itself into living myth, with a narrative energy reminiscent of García Márquez and the tragic exuberance of Derek Walcott. Fierce, funny, and profoundly moving, Death of the Soccer God is a blazing feat of invention--an indelible work of art."
--Rowan Ricardo Phillips, author of Silver

"An explosion of a novel, bursting with wit, passion and politics, Death of the Soccer God recalls Paul Beatty by way of Kapuściński's The Soccer War, but in truth Léger is a complete original. He has written a wild, moving tale that should not be missed."
--Junot Díaz, author of The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

"Delicious and atmospheric, full of history and desire, Legér's novel will make you fall in love with its hero and possibly with a certain leggy sport."
--Gary Shteyngart, author of Vera, or Faith

About the Author

Dimitry Elias Léger is the author of God Loves Haiti, a finalist for the PEN Open Book Award. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Time, Fortune, Granta, The Miami Herald, Literary Hub, The Millions, and The Source. Beyond his journalism and fiction writing, Léger has performed diplomatic work on behalf of Haiti since 2005, including at the World Economic Forum and NGOs dedicated to disaster relief. He splits his time between Pennsylvania and France.