I am the Gloryhunter Book Review

By: Rob Sedgwick
Date: 12/02/2010

I am the GloryHunter can be bought from Amazon.co.uk

This was a really good chance to record what happened in the 2008-2009 season in League Two, which was especially interesting and notable as four teams had points deducted. Spencer Austin was at one time or other at all four teams who had points docked, and every side involved in the relegation fight.

Instead we are treated to an endless ramble with many pointless detours and a collection of random characters who Austin just happened to stumble across.

Austin used to be a stand up comedian and the book is one long succession of wise cracks. Some of them are very funny and I laughed at loud at a few, but the bulk of them ranged from plain unfunny to wearisome.

What I'd like to have seen is Austin tell the real story of what is what is going on behind the scenes at each of the clubs - from a neutral's point of view. He has at attempt to do that at Darlington but in the end we're just treated to a succession of interviews with people he happened to meet, ranging from club mascots, forum keyboard warriors and those who spoke up loudest in whatever pub Austin happened to be in when he was writing each day's entry. You just get the impression that he hasn't really put the effort in to meet the people or dig our the stories that really mattered at each club.

Austin starts his journey at Grimsby. There is so much detail wrong in his time spent in Grimsby it's almost embarrassing in places. I mean the title of the Grimsby chapter is one of our chants and he gets it completely wrong, and misses even the point of the chant!

This book is probably good for the people who he met and featured in the book but for the rest of us it's like walking into the middle of someone else's conversation that you can't quite follow.

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