I haven't read either...what is the synopsis? Bobby was as war his entire life. I am intrigued by "Endgame," and will buy it today, but that doesn't change who Fischer was. As much as I know of him, he was a tragic figure who never found the love.... A great chess player, however, and a very polite, civilized individual who had the huevos to stand up against the entire Soviet Union. Say what you will, Fischer was steel...440 rockwell...he was the greatest.
Bobby Fischer goes to War (2004)
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"Bobby Fischer goes to War" is ostensibly about the 1972 world championship in Iceland and all the political intrigue surrounding it. From what i read so far, it contains broad sketches of Fischer's life and career, Spassky's life and career, the political cultures of the U.S. and U.S.S.R. from the end of WW2 to the 70's, and a detailed explanation of the Soviet chess establishment and how Spassky fit into it.
"Endgame," which came out last year and I have read in its entirety, is a quite detailed and entertaining biography of Fischer from birth in 1943 to his death in Iceland in 2008. I found the chapters on Fischer's life from his retirement in 1975 onward to be the most fascinating, especially his life "on the run" after he was indicted in the US in 1992 for violating trade sanctions against Yugoslavia.
On a personal note, I think its a bit unfair that Fischer was literally the ONLY U.S. citizen ever to be prosecuted for breaking that particular law.
OMG, Estragon, you really bring back some memories...Edmondsen...never met him, but he was legend...those were the days....what was so great in those days was no computers...everything was up in the air and Batsford's Chess Openings was the bible...every month, I would wait for my copy of Chess Life and Review to pull everything out of it I could. Articles by Larry Evans and the latest from Christensen and Huebner were like brain candy...kids these days have no clue what fun it was.
So, I'm reading the above titled book, "Bobby Fischer goes to War," by David Edmonds and John Eidinow. I looked up some reviews on line and have to say I'm relatively pleased with the book so far. I was wondering if any of you here have read it and what you thought about the book.
I have also read "Endgame," (2011) which is a recent biography of Fischer and thought it was awesome. Are you all familiar with that work?
Please share your thoughts about how the two books compare.