Tailgate to Heaven

A British NFL Fan Tackles America

Adam Goldstein

352 pages
36 photographs, 3 appendixes

Paperback

September 2014

978-1-61234-708-0

$17.95 Add to Cart

Hardcover

July 2012

978-1-59797-692-3

$29.95 Add to Cart

eBook (PDF)

September 2011

978-1-59797-868-2

$17.95 Add to Cart

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About the Book

Despite a global recession, Englishman Adam Goldstein felt 2008 was the perfect time to invest in his lifelong passion. So he sold his apartment and left his job and girlfriend in London for American football.

Goldstein’s goal was to achieve what no other fan of American football has accomplished: to attend one live National Football League (NFL) game at every NFL stadium during the regular season, plus those played in London and Canada. He traveled more than sixty-five thousand miles to watch forty football games in eighteen weeks and to experience and understand the phenomenal appeal of that classic American pastime, the tailgate party.

He drove from stadium to stadium, tailgate to tailgate, sometimes eight hundred miles a day, digesting everything that American football could serve up. He met players and extreme fans alike and was party to surreal pregame rituals while absorbing the rich cultural differences of each part of the country.

During his football odyssey—a grueling yet rewarding quest—he compared sports traditions and fandom in the United Kingdom and the United States. Tailgate to Heaven is a humorous, moving, and inspiring story about how nothing closes a culture gap like love of a sport—and the camaraderie that comes with it.

Author Bio

ADAM GOLDSTEIN is a drama tutor based in London. He has written for the Chicago Tribune, Tailgater Monthly, Sport Magazine, TuesdayMorningFootball.com, NFLuk.com, sport.co.uk, crumbsformen.com, and usfootball.dk.

Foreword by Neil Reynolds
Foreword by Karen DiEugenio
Preface: My Team
1. Why?
2. From Soccer to Rugby to American Football: A Short, Personal History
3. The Trip’s Creation
4. First Quarter
5. Second Quarter
6. Halftime (Bye Week)
7. Third Quarter: The Adam and Neal Trip
8. Fourth Quarter: The Adam and Steph Trip
9. Post Season
10. From Tailgatee to Tailgater and from Fan to Super Fan
Appendix A. My Original 35-Game Schedule
Appendix B. Stadium Ratings
Appendix C. NFL Players Featured on Dancing with the Stars
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Additional Resources

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