Cantona on Cantona

by Eric Cantona, Alex Fynn

The autobiography of Manchester United player, Eric Cantona, who talks about his views on the key influences in his eventful life, covering both football and more personal issues.

Genres: Biography, Football

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Eric Daniel Pierre Cantona (born 24 May 1966) (English pronunciation: /ˈkæntənɑː/) is a French former footballer of the late 1980s and 1990s, turned actor. He ended his professional footballing career at Manchester United where he won four Premier League titles in five years, including two League and FA Cup Doubles.

Cantona is often regarded as having played a major talismanic role in the revival of Manchester United as a footballing powerhouse and he enjoys iconic status at the club and in English football. In 2001, he was voted their player of the century, and to this day United fans refer to him as "King Eric". He is the current manager of the France beach soccer team.

Following his retirement from football, he took up a career in cinema and had a cameo role in the 1998 film Elizabeth, starring Cate Blanchett.

Reviews

[Romysh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I popped into the Oxfam charity shop on my day trip to Brighton when I spotted this book. I snatched it without hesitation. And what a gem I found.
The photos are amazing, and they add the book a lot of quality. I have never seen a book done in this style. All the photo books i ever saw had a little description of the relevant picture, but not here. Here, it served as some sort of background that guided you through the book, and I absolutely loved it.
The fact that this came out in '96, while Eric was still playing, is just mind-blowing. It's like stepping into a time machine and travelling to a very extraordinary time when Eric the King ruled English football.
To read his thoughts and ideas was fascinating. It's a very short book, but a memorable one.

[Gareth Williams]

The king

[Andrew Ives · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite a short book, full of large artistic b&w photos of Eric Le Grand playing football and doing other French things. As this book is quite old now, written during Eric's heyday after the Crystal Palace kung fu moment, for a footballer just about turning 30, he often comes across as very wise and philosophical, talking about art, nature and what's important in life in a very French way. The 'Utopia' page is like a lite version of Plato's Republic - not the sort of thing one might associate with your average footballer. He also says he will give up football at the top of his game, that he fancies making films and would only become a manager if he found it sufficiently challenging and different. All of those things have come to pass. Maybe not the deepest book in the world, but enjoyable enough. We miss players like Eric these days. 3.25/5

[Theresia · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Reread.) Still my favorite biography of a Magnificent Seven. Here's my favorite part: the bits where Fergie brought him on his first day to the height of Old Trafford and asked him if he were big enough for ManYoo and the King answered, "It doesn't matter. What matter is whether this club is big enough for me." Bring it, popped collar!