Playing the Moldovans at Tennis

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Indeed, it’s a place where there are no manhole covers, no street lighting and quite often not enough money to pay proper salaries to doctors and medical staff. Still, overall Playing The Moldovans At Tennis is an entertaining, easy read that will make you chuckle. And for another, even getting to Moldova is quite a process and one that, in Tony’s case, involves going to Liverpool to meet a Beatles tribute band. A good part of the humour of the book is based on the clash of culture between an over-optimistic Englishman and a local population who seem to be a bit reserved and not particularly surprised about Tony's plan.

Tenis cu moldoveni by Tony Hawks | Goodreads

There is plenty of action, unexpected turns of fate, meetings with the Moldovan underworld, gypsies, and every day challenges such as power cuts, huge manholes in the almost unlit streets of the capital Chisinau, adventures in the public transport, but also encounters with plenty of helpful people, especially his guest family with which Tony created a bond of friendship for life. On 2 January 2008 he appeared on an edition of Celebrity Mastermind, with Tony Hawk as his chosen specialised subject. In March 2011 Tony travelled to Japan to appear at the Okinawa International Film Festival where Round Ireland with a Fridge was nominated for Best Comedy.

Perhaps thankfully so, the genre recently seems to have abated in popularity, perhaps because the world is now so interconnected, there is less and less tourism possible to be guerilla about. Much like in “Round Ireland With a Fridge”, “Playing the Moldovans at Tennis” is more about the people he meets and how he goes about doing what he has to do, rather than the places he goes. As leader of the trio Morris Minor and the Majors, he reached number 4 in the UK charts with the Beastie Boys parody, Stutter Rap (No Sleep Til Bedtime) in 1988.

Playing the Moldovans at Tennis | movie | 2012 | Official Playing the Moldovans at Tennis | movie | 2012 | Official

I felt really bad for the players and other people he met or encountered because he says some nasty things about them: bald, fat, bad teeth, full of it and then goes on to mock their poor tennis performances. A bet, which, to any sane person, would sound utterly ridiculous: that he could beat all of the players that were on the field for the Moldovan national soccer team, in tennis (one on one). And, unlike in Moldova he’s got time on his hands with things being arranged and done a lot quicker, so he’s able to look around a little.Hawks used to play tennis at a very low competitive level, he was adamant that he could beat athletic individuals, like these soccer players, at his game. As he and his buddy were watching the game on TV, they decided to debate if athletic ability wins out over skill and knowledge of a game.

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Playing the Moldovans at Tennis - Episode

Excellent concept: a few drinks, watching the soccer, you’re good at tennis, could you beat the Moldovan soccer team at your own sport?The book treads a fine line between brilliant and juvenile, between Jeremy Beadle and the genuinely witty. He knows nothing about the cultures he is visiting but he relays his experiences in a funny first-hand way and you learn as you travel with him.