A Booklover’s Guide to World Cup 2014
By Danny Scott
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Group A
Brasil
Zero by Ignacio de Loyola Brandão, Dalkey Archive Press
Croatia
Mama Leone by Miljenko Jergović, Archipelago Books
Mexico
Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo, Anagrama
Cameroon
Dark Heart of the Night by Lianora Miano, Bison Original
Group B
Spain
Dublinesque by Enrique Vila-Matas, Harvill Secker
Chile
2666 by Roberto Bolaño, Picador
The Netherlands
Rembrant’s Whore by Sylvie Matton, Canongate International
Australia
The Secret River by Kate Grenville, Canongate Books
Group C
Colombia
The Informers by Juan Gabriel Vasquez, Riverhead Books
Greece
Kassandra and the Wolf by Margarita Karapanou, Clockroot Books
Ivory Coast
Aya by Marguerite Abouet, Jonathan Cape
Japan
Ring by Koji Suzuki, Harper Collins
Group D
Uruguay
The Invisible Mountain by Carolina Robertis, Harper Collins
Costa Rica
Years Like Brief Days by Fabian Dobles, Peter Owen
England
The Ball is Round by David Goldblatt, Penguin
Italy
The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordano, Doubleday
Group E
Switzerland
Night Train To Lisbon by Pascal Mercier, Atlantic Books
Ecuador
Wolves’ Dream by Abdón Ubidia, Latin American Literary Review Press
France
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery, Gallic Books
Honduras
The Ships by Roberto Quesada
Group F
Argentina
Shantytown by César Aira, New Directions
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bridge Over The Drina by Ivo Andric, Harvill Press
Iran
The Blind Owl by Sadegh Hedayat, Alma Classics Ltd
Nigeria
On Black Sister’s Street by Chika Unigwe, Vintage
Group G
Germany
The Mussel Feast by Birgit Vanderbeke, Peirene Press Ltd
Ghana
Ghana Must Go by Taiye Selasi, Penguin
Portugal
Act of the Damned by António Lobo Antunes, Grove Press
USA
Friday Night Lights by H. G. Bissinger, Yellow Jersey
Group H
Algeria
The Tongue’s Blood Does Not Run Dry by Assia Djebar, Seven Stories Press
Belgium
Marcel by Erwin Mortier, Pushkin Press
Russia
Maidenhair by Mikhail Shishkin, Open Lette
South Korea
Please Look After Mother by Kyung-Sook Shin, Phoenix