Tommy Burns was an ordinary lad who has become an extraordinary man. He is also the English Football Association's best young referee, cruising toward a spot at the next World Cup. But when Mark, an old friend from his days as a football hooligan, gets in touch, things start to come unstuck.
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What's it about, this Oi, Ref?
What's it all about? If you hate Nick Hornby, you'll love this book. I've tried to steer well clear of all the sentimental garbage, the sitcom situations, soap opera emotional palette (ie very limited), the tired old coming of age structure and the predictable twists of plot that you get in so many modern novels. I've tried to write beyond my own experience - by using my imagination, listening to people - so that this is more than some thinly veiled autobiographical first novel embarrassment. I've also tried to incorporate things that the literature industry tries to ignore - complex characters (let's just say the hero, Tommy Burns, thinks bad thoughts but does good deeds), realistic dialogue, Birmingham, motorbikes-that-are-not-Harleys, ordinary people as well as the glamorous, the eccentric and the fantastic. I was asked by an interviewer if Tommy is really me, and all I can say is, he thinks like me, but he's a much better runner. Since people keep asking, I live in New York because it's the place where I can get things done, and because I like feeling like a tourist. I also spend a fair amount of time in the UK each year, but that's nothing to boast about. That's the subject of my next novel, which I am writing now: England, tourism, love, summertime, unsuccessful suicide, geography, real people, paradise regained. In the meantime I've written a novella about New York and the sort of companies I cover for the Post - internet startups, software conglometares, and the vain, pompous CEOs who populate the business world - which is called <Digital Examination>. Just for a laugh, like.
What's it all about? If you hate Nick Hornby, you'll love this book. I've tried to steer well clear of all the sentimental garbage, the sitcom situations, soap opera emotional palette (ie very limited), the tired old coming of age structure and the predictable twists of plot that you get in so many modern novels. I've tried to write beyond my own experience - by using my imagination, listening to people - so that this is more than some thinly veiled autobiographical first novel embarrassment. I've also tried to incorporate things that the literature industry tries to ignore - complex characters (let's just say the hero, Tommy Burns, thinks bad thoughts but does good deeds), realistic dialogue, Birmingham, motorbikes-that-are-not-Harleys, ordinary people as well as the glamorous, the eccentric and the fantastic. I was asked by an interviewer if Tommy is really me, and all I can say is, he thinks like me, but he's a much better runner. Since people keep asking, I live in New York because it's the place where I can get things done, and because I like feeling like a tourist. I also spend a fair amount of time in the UK each year, but that's nothing to boast about. That's the subject of my next novel, which I am writing now: England, tourism, love, summertime, unsuccessful suicide, geography, real people, paradise regained. In the meantime I've written a novella about New York and the sort of companies I cover for the Post - internet startups, software conglometares, and the vain, pompous CEOs who populate the business world - which is called <Digital Examination>. Just for a laugh, like.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
I loved this book for two reasons. 1. It shows what beats in the heart of every real football fan, without resorting to sentimentality or gratuitious violence. And it did while making me laugh - Nick Plumage ( the Man United Poet ) is one of the great walk-on characters of 90's literature, the handicap football match scene made me piss myself, and the protagonist Tommy is such a conceited bastard you have to love him. Fat Paul, Father Kellly, Mrs O and Melissa are all good characters who have nothing to do with football. 2. It's not just about football and lads' stuff, it's about reaching your thirties and wondering what's next? When your past haunts you because it's suddenly out of fashion, and when your hobby ( in this case refereeing ) becomes bigger than your career, where do you stand? Another thing haunting Tommy and Melissa seems to be the kids they haven't committed to having yet. At 350 pages it looks long but the style is always light and there's always a laugh around the corner to keep you going. Also a good book if you think London is overrated and full of softy southerners.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Joseph Gallivan's novel touches on ground which books such as Awaydays do, by controversially suggesting that there may be more in some people's lives than football and related violence. It centres on Tommy Burns (reference no doubt intentional), a former Aston Villa hooligan who has made good-ish, as a GP in Camden and referee for the Premier League. Out of the blue, an old friend from Birmingham calls up. Tommy meets up with him one weekend and the central theme of the book goes from there.
Can you ever go home? Tommy is revisiting days of constant boozing and 'the knock', but comes to realise that life has moved on since then. Many will recognise the uncertainties of the late 20's and early 30's which nag at us continually. Home is not home any more. Anyone who has moved away from the town of their birth will empathise with Tommy's relationship with Birmingham.
Is this really worth five crowns? If you're a 20-something Villa fan from Birmingham who now lives in London, this book is about you. I am, hence the rating. If you hate 'Cockneys', it is also worth five. If you are not, then this is a three and a half job - well crafted, intelligent and sympathetic, without being misty-eyed.
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Easily one of the best football novels around. A book that contains some classic moments of humour (mainly the non-PC ones). Realistic knowledge of actual locations, people's behaviour and what they really think. Highly reccomended just for the disabled football match, Nick Plumage and the marking of the infants' books at the end.
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