Rabih Alameddine
Rabih Alameddine
Rabih Alameddineis a Lebanese-American painter and writer. He was born in Amman, Jordan to Lebanese Druze parents. He grew up in Kuwait and Lebanon, which he left at age 17 to live first in England and then in California. A lover of mathematics, he earned a degree in engineering from the University of California at Los Angelesand a Master of Business in San Francisco. He began his career as an engineer, then moved to writing and painting. The author of...
NationalityLebanese
ProfessionArtist
CountryLebanon
began organized since teams
I was gay before I began to play soccer over 40 years ago. It's been 28 years since a friend and I organized one of the first gay soccer teams in the world.
delusion enjoy gave love players
I gave up on the delusion that these players enjoy soccer as much as I do, that they play for the love of the game.
pick
I was about 11 or 12 when I began to pick up my mother's books.
reminded
No one needs to be reminded of racism in soccer: the xenophobia, the nativism and, yes, nationalism.
easily hold time
I can easily hold two opposing beliefs at the same time without any problem, which I find - well, mind-expanding, really.
ceiling covered dream family father four home house left obscene political remains since summer time took
In the summer of 1988, my father took me up to look at the remains of our home, the dream house that he'd built. It was my first time since our family left four years earlier. Political and obscene graffiti covered the half-torn walls. There was no ceiling and surprisingly no floor: the parquet, the stone, the marble, all looted.
descend gabriel game gods moment music narrative peak pure sets suddenly tension wagner
A soccer game is a Wagner opera. The narrative sets up, the tension builds, the music ebbs and flows, the strings, the horns, more tension, and suddenly a moment of pure bliss, trumpet-tongued Gabriel sings, and gods descend from Olympus to dance - this peak of ecstasy.
develops meanings
Language, after all, is organic. You can't force words into existence. You can't force new meanings into words. And some words can't or won't or shouldn't be laundered or neutered. Language develops naturally.
argument enjoy fans sports
I know many sports fans that don't enjoy soccer. The argument is that there's no action, not enough of it.
regular shocks until
I oscillate between being cynical and being naive on a regular basis. I always think that not much shocks me until something much too obvious does.
park pay pick whether
If you want to know whether soccer is big in America, pick a weekend, go to any park in the land, and pay attention. We're there. We've always been.
britain english european fondness history invaded languages perhaps recorded speakers spot
English has always had a special fondness for other European languages, a neighborly soft spot - perhaps because Britain has been invaded by speakers of those languages from the onset of its recorded history.
begun civil five lebanese war
The Lebanese Civil War, 1975-1990, spanned four World Cups. It would have been a more symmetrical five had the Lebanese begun in 1974, but you know, we're Mediterranean, and timing isn't our forte.
algeria believe country
In 1982, Algeria made their first appearance at the World Cup. I believe it was the first Arab country to do so.