“In the tradition of the great Frederick Exley’s A Fan’s Notes, Tom McAllister’s debut memoir is far more than a recounting of one man’s hapless love affair with one of America’s most benighted football franchises. Within these unflinchingly honest pages lies a profound and personal meditation on manhood itself—on fathers and sons, on the inheritance of place, on the customs of a tribe and finding one’s place within it. Tom McAllister isn’t just a writer on his way. He’s already here. A wonderful book.”—Justin Cronin, author of The Passage
“Bury Me in My Jersey is a treasure chest of a memoir, brimming over with insight, urgency, exhilaration, and grief. Above all else it is a lovesong to a particular family, a particular city, and a particular team, but its reach is wider than that; for a reader like me, with no particular passion for football, it offers a rare and captivating window into the enthusiasm of the sports fan.”—Kevin Brockmeier, author of The Brief History of the Dead
“Tom McAllister’s accomplishment in Bury Me In My Jersey is considerable: I’ll never be able to watch the Eagles play again without thinking about him and his remarkable book. A funny, confessional and often moving account populated with characters who make you wonder where the world is headed even as you love and cheer for them.” —John Ed Bradley, author of It Never Rains in Tiger Stadium
“The story Tom McAllister tells in his ferociously smart new memoir is by turns hilarious, appalling, and heartbreaking—and often all three at once. It’s about sports fandom the way Moby Dick is about whaling, brilliantly evoking its own little corner of the world even as it addresses big and even incendiary subjects with fearless honesty. It’s about more than just football, in other words, and you don’t have to care about the Philadelphia Eagles to be entertained and moved by this witty and humane book.”—James Hynes, author of Publish and Perish, The Lecturer’s Tale, and Kings of Infinite Space
“More than a family memoir, this debut work by McAllister, a lecturer in the English department at Temple University, reads like a feverish coming-of-age tale of a gridiron groupie known as a “Philly fanatic,” complete with endearing childhood and college flashbacks…” — From 2/22/10 issue of Publisher’s Weekly. Read the rest
“One of the main characters in the book is Philadelphia itself. Tom gives you a feel for the city. You learn what it means to be from a particular area and what it means to go to a particular school. Most importantly, Tom is able to give you an idea what it means to be a Philadelphian, whether good, bad, or just plain odd. One thing I can guarantee is that you’ll want to go get a cheesesteak (or two) as you read the book…
You don’t need to be an Eagles fan to enjoy Bury Me in My Jersey. Heck, I’m not even sure you need to be a football fan. You’ll like many of the people in the book, especially Tom’s father and LauraBeth (Tom’s girlfriend turned fiancé turned wife). I think people around addicted sports fans like Tom and me would enjoy the book and gain some sense of understanding in why we are the way we are.” – Tommy Lawlor, Huffington Post, 6/16/10. Read the rest.
“In rowhouse Philadelphia, McAllister grew up the son of a son of an Eagles fan, with Sundays in season reserved for sofa and recliner, wings and beer, a father-son bonding moment, and complete and utter devotion to a team that always wound up breaking their hearts. Of course, they always came back anyway.
McAllister is Philly through and through, a sandwich-shop veteran who graduated from La Salle University and the much-esteemed Iowa Writers Workshop…
As for McAllister, by book’s end he has made headway in fits and starts. His allegiance to the Eagles has not wavered nor his loyalty waned, but you do sense he is no longer completely gone, and with LauraBeth’s aid – well, he strikes you now as a work in progress.” Bill Lyon in the Philadelphia Inquirer, 6/20/10. Read the rest
“Two summer reads for you as vacation beckons for me. First: “Bury Me in My Jersey,” by Tom McAllister, for anyone who’s ever cared a little too much about sports, and who misses watching those sports every day with the loved one who introduced you — in this case, his dad. His team of choice happens to be the Eagles, but it could be anybody’s team, and anyone’s dad. Trust me, you will love this book.” – Mike Vaccaro, New York Post, 7/11/10
“This frustration is never illustrated so clearly as it is in Tom McAllister’s debut book, “Bury Me in My Jersey,” in which McAllister describes how the Philadelphia Eagles consume his life. Any Philadelphia fan can relate to the emotional roller coaster McAllister rides. He admits he drinks too much and spends countless hours each week posting on the Eagles’ Internet message board… Relationships are the common thread throughout the book. The relationship he has with the Eagles borders, for lack of a better word, on obsession….
It’s a funny, wonderfully written memoir that is must-read for any sports fan.” — Luke Reasoner, in the Charleston Post and Courier, 7/15/10. Read the rest
“Bury Me in My Jersey is a literary ode to family, his father, and all things Iggles. McAllister weaves his personal evolution into this tale of the unique brand of agony reserved for Philly-area football fans.” — South Jersey Magazine, Volume 7, Issue 4
