Why Now?
What Does My New Book Have to Do With Ongoing Wars?
“Why now?”
That is what a publisher wants to know when you are sending them a draft of your book.
As in, “Why do you think this is the right time to publish this book?”
It’s the question that comes straight after the first question — “Who is your target audience?”
It was in the summer of 2022 when I started sending my book ‘Beyond Cristiano’ to publishers. Just as I didn’t know who my target audience was, I couldn’t find the exact answer to the question — “Why now?”
Which is why I never got on the same page with publishers and ultimately why I self-published the book.
At the end of the same year, I moved from London to Manchester. People would often ask me why I did that.
“I don’t know why,” I would answer. “A change…?”
You see, I don’t always know why I am doing the shit I am doing.
When I first arrived in Manchester, my book was far from finished. It contained a conversation between two fictional guys, but it lacked any structure. Those two guys didn’t have names yet, never mind any other characteristics. The plot was not set anywhere. It was a dialogue between the two guys who had not yet come to life.
Only after months spent in Manchester, as I was travelling to work to the Trafford Centre and passing next to the huge stadium that was radiating ‘Manchester United’ in bright red colour, I realised that one of those characters would be a Manchester United fan and he would be a big fan of Cristiano Ronaldo, the main protagonist of the book.
It is since that day when someone asks me why I moved to Manchester, I answer, “To finish my book.”
Do I think that is my final answer to that question? Of course not. But that is the best I have come up with up to this day.
And I only had that answer after I actually moved.
I believe it was Nietzsche who said, “Don’t tell people where you are going because something better can come up to your mind later.” Or something like that, anyway.
And that’s what it really is about. We don’t have all the answers. We don’t know all the whys. But sometimes things do fall into place and we get to see the full picture a bit clearer. Or at least we pretend to do so.
So, if you ask me today, “Why now?” as in why it was important to get published my new book now, I’ve got an answer for you.
The book ‘Beyond Cristiano’ is essentially about tribalism. It is the book where I used football as a metaphor for life. Apart from Cristiano Ronaldo, who is a tribe unto himself, the main tribe in the book is the Manchester United tribe. David, one of those two characters, is a Manchester United fan.
Like every other member of the tribe, David seeks protection within his tribe. It gives him a sense of belonging. He shares the same values as others, worships the same gods and he is afraid of the same laws. Ultimately, he derives his identity from the tribe. Therefore, it is his sense of self what his tribe protects. “I am Manchester United,” is what he wants protected. Every tribe needs an enemy because the enemy strengthens their sense of identity. Good needs evil to exist. What would Manchester United be without Liverpool? What would Cristiano Ronaldo be without Messi?
So, “Why now?”
As you are probably aware, tribalism is gaining momentum in today’s world. My tribe against yours. My club against yours. Vaxxers against anti-vaxxers. My country against yours. Russia against America. Or even more so, West against East. With all of these, it seems as if a public sphere consisted of the governments, media and corporations, has made a clear distinction between good and evil and urged people what tribe to join to be on the ‘right side’ of history.
But then something mind-blowing happened quite recently. After a few years of such an intense black and white collective thinking, the war between Israel and Palestine took the headlines and presented the world for what it is — a bloody complex bastard. It feels almost as if the universe reshuffled the cards and sent us something so complex that would push us out of our comfort zones and make us expand our stupid minds. The world doesn’t seem so dichotomous anymore and for the first time in years, we Westerners are getting to see the both sides of the story. What a revelation! Seeing things black and white is the basic disfunction of mind. Even the most rigid members of tribes, those whose sense of self is at stake, now think twice before saying something concerning the geopolitical situation of Israel and Palestine.
Perhaps, we have come to the point when identifying with a tribe is not as simple anymore, and the collective rise of consciousness requires us to be something more than just soldiers of our tribes. Sure, some are still colour-blind and prefer to stay in a comfort of their tribes.
So, “Why now?” Why, why, why???
Apart from David, who is a passionate Manchester United fan, there is another character in the book name Edo. His question is, “How would football look like beyond tribalism, beyond Cristiano.” Ronaldinho is the man who comes to his mind. Ronaldinho is the proof that we can play the game in the name of love, rather than enhancing our identities through winning and losing. He is the proof that we don’t need enemies. Ronaldinho is what John Lennon imagined when he sang “There’s no countries, nothing to kill or die for, no religion too.”
Now, I understand that some passionate fans might find this idea a bit disturbing. In fact, many times during the writing process, I felt like a traitor of football. Very strange for someone who claims football is life, innit? But… As I said, life is complicated. And there are layers to the mess. Yes, it is appealing to identify with the club’s colours and the badge, to be ready to die for your club. To have your enemies, your boarders. But what if all the suffering in the world comes from such identification with the badge? What if all wars are rooted in such identification?
But that is football, that is life, right? The question is — is that all that life is, are is there more to the beautiful game?
Ronaldinho played for Barcelona, but he was not Barcelona, he played for Paris but he was not Paris. He simply played free of tribalism. His game was beyond conceptual intelligence. He didn’t answer ‘whys’ because every why is one step away from the answer.
And what is the answer?
Love is the answer.
Here, that is the best I have come up with so far.
The book ‘Beyond Cristiano’ has been published on Amazon. You can buy a copy here:
Shop UK: https://shorturl.at/akosQ
Shop US: https://rb.gy/jwm4vw
Shop Europe: https://shorturl.at/uxT04
