Death of the Soccer God

In *Death of the Soccer God*, novelist and former advisor to the United Nations Dimitry Elias Léger presents his second novel that centers around a talented Haitian soccer player named Gilbert "Gil" Chevalier who leaves his country to study at Columbia University in New York City. While playing soccer in Central Park, Gil catches the eye of a U.S. National Team's coach, who recruits him to play for the United States at the 1950 World Cup in Brazil. From there, his fame in the sport skyrockets, and as a result, his life changes dramatically. Regarding the novel's setting, Léger explains that he chose this particular time period because of a remarkable true event. "In 1950, the U.S. men's soccer team beat England in the opening game of the World Cup in Brazil and... the guy who scored the goal for America to beat England was a Haitian immigrant... He was a kid like me who grew up in Haiti and... came to New York to study and the next thing you know, he's playing in the World Cup and on top of the world, and then has to go back home and deal with the complications of being... a world famous celebrity... and when I read about him I thought... How do you square your roots when you become a global star?"

As readers may have noticed, Léger has a unique style of writing that switches from first person to third person perspectives throughout the novel, sometimes within the same page. He notes that he uses this technique to reflect the natural changes of human thought. "I'm trying to mimic our inner monologues. I like to think on any given moment we're thinking about our relationship with heaven and hell. We're thinking about our sins and our good qualities, and we're thinking about doing the laundry. We're thinking about grocery shopping and then we're scared about our kids, we're scared about our grandkids, we're worried about our parents... the fear, the love, that kind of drive us on a daily." In addition to the shifts in perspectives, Léger also incorporates different languages throughout his book. He explains that he does this to fully immerse readers in the story. "Reading my books, I think, are an opportunity to discover new languages and to discover new cultures. It's a way to travel basically around the world from the safety of your Kindle and on your book."