Death of the Soccer God
A Novel

Quotes

"Like its predecessor [God Loves Haiti], the novel moves with lyrical, imaginative force, especially in its vivid evocations of soccer play, while also showcasing the author’s penchant for orchestrating funny and poignant romantic interludes. A historical novel that merrily dances and jukes its way across the pitch of time."
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Like a long persona poem from the pitch, Death of the Soccer God exemplifies the kind of dark, hilarious, and discomforting forms of play that exercise our desire to pay attention. Gilbert is exhilarating when wrong, and wronged himself, and it takes a deft hand to delineate this man’s desire from his untoward destination, and yet, Dimitry Elias Léger pulls it off, while making everything in-between a serious thrill."
—Joseph Earl Thomas, author of Sink and God Bless You, Otis Spunkmeyer

"Dimitry Elias Leger’s novel is a feat of joy and artistry and soccer fields. From Harlem jazz clubs and Brazilian futebol stadiums, to the intimate and violent spaces of Haitian history, Death of the Soccer God takes the beautiful game on a journey unlike any other it’s taken before."
—Héctor Tobar, author Our Migrant Souls

"Death of the Soccer God is laugh out loud funny, audaciously profane, and intelligent; an ode to soccer culture that wraps you up in a whirlwind of love, joy, heartbreak, and the ferocious quest of every Caribbean boy and girl wanting to make it. An unforgettable novel that captures Haiti in all her beauty, ugliness, and complexity."
—Nicole Dennis-Benn, award-winning author of Patsy and Here Comes the Sun

"In Death of the Soccer God, Dimitry Elias Léger delivers a radiant, raucous, and unforgettable novel. Gilbert Chevalier—Haiti’s prodigal striker who once stunned the world in Brazil—awaits execution in Fort Dimanche, and from those suspended seconds before the rifles fire unfolds a life of scandalous love, improbable triumph, and devastating betrayal. Léger’s prose is lush, incantatory, alive with carnival excess and sudden poignancy, at once bawdy and prayerful. He turns the Beautiful Game into epic literature and Haiti itself into living myth, with a narrative energy reminiscent of García Márquez and the tragic exuberance of Derek Walcott. Fierce, funny, and profoundly moving, Death of the Soccer God is a blazing feat of invention—an indelible work of art."
—Rowan Ricardo Phillips, author of Silver

“An explosion of a novel, bursting with wit, passion and politics, Death of the Soccer God recalls Paul Beatty by way of Kapuściński’s The Soccer War, but in truth Léger is a complete original. He has written a wild, moving tale that should not be missed.”
—Junot Díaz, author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

"Delicious and atmospheric, full of history and desire, Legér’s novel will make you fall in love with its hero and possibly with a certain leggy sport.”
—Gary Shteyngart, author of Vera, or Faith