September 4, 2000
Journalist Allen evocatively chronicles her unusual childhood in this memoir about being the only daughter of the legendary football coach George Allen. George was devoted to his teams--the Chicago Bears, Los Angeles Rams and Washington Redskins. Jennifer and her three brothers knew to stay out of their father's way, especially if he had just lost a game or had had a run-in with one of the team owners. While George could bond more with his sons and take them along to training camps, the author stayed behind with her mother, a French woman who apparently spent most of her time building and remodeling homes while her husband lived and breathed football. Jennifer and her mother cherished their time together--eating in the bedroom, watching old movies--yet the young girl was troubled by her father's devotion to the game and his players at the expense of his children. Her descriptions of dinner table conversation make it clear that the household was not easy to survive in; George tried to rule the family in military fashion, with strict rules and regulations; when it came to the TV, he would watch a video replay of a game over and over while his family looked on in silence. Jennifer recalls some perks, however, such as having a limo take her to school and meeting some famous people. In this touching and often unsentimental story, George Allen emerges as a self-centered man who chose to sacrifice a normal family life for the sake of his career. Agent, Bonnie Nadell/Fred Hill & Assoc.
June 1, 2000
What it's like to be the only girl in a family of boys--with a top NFL coach for a dad.
Copyright 2000 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
January 1, 2001
Adult/High School-To fans, football is a great way to pass a crisp, autumn afternoon. But for Jennifer Allen, it was the culture around which her life revolved. Her father, Coach George Allen, focused like a laser beam on the game. He never learned to spell his daughter's name correctly. He was never home for dinners or birthdays or Christmas. Jennifer recounts her life in short chapters as her father made the L.A. Rams a winning team and brought a championship to the Washington Redskins. The entire family kowtowed to his every wish and whim. Her brothers kept statistics on the sidelines; Jennifer's job was to turn the channels on the television so that her father could see all the sportscasts on the news. Her mother reveled in her public role as Mrs. George Allen, but mother and daughter relished the freedom they had when her father and brothers left for training camp. Jennifer's French mother, a chain-smoker who could swear a blue streak and find irony in every situation, provided the comic relief to her husband's intensity. In a loving look at life with a dominating, driven coach, Allen provides an inside look at football, life in the sports limelight, and the 70s as she grows from a child to a rebellious young woman struggling to find her place in the world.-Jane S. Drabkin, Potomac Community Library, Woodbridge, VA
Copyright 2000 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
September 1, 2000
George Allen was an NFL football coach extraordinaire whose maniacal devotion to his job defined what has become the expected lifestyle of those in his profession. Allen's work habits didn't allow much room for his family, especially his daughter Jennifer, whose memoir expresses the frustration of living in a house where football was the only reality and where she was locked out from a world of jockstraps and shoulder pads. Jennifer also experienced the frustration of frequent relocation, as the tightly wound Allen inevitably alienated team owners and was forced to move on to another city. After a period in which she turned away from football and established herself as a writer, with pieces contributed to " Rolling Stone" and the " New Republic," among other national journals, Allen made peace with the game and her father's life. Her journey of discovery is worth sharing not only with football fans but also withanyone seeking to understand a loving but distant parent.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2000, American Library Association.)
November 1, 2002
Adult/High School-To fans, football is a great way to pass a crisp, autumn afternoon. But for Jennifer Allen, it was the culture around which her life revolved. Her father, Coach George Allen, focused like a laser beam on the game. He never learned to spell his daughter's name correctly. He was never home for dinners or birthdays or Christmas. Jennifer recounts her life in short chapters as her father made the L.A. Rams a winning team and brought a championship to the Washington Redskins. The entire family kowtowed to his every wish and whim. Her brothers kept statistics on the sidelines; Jennifer's job was to turn the channels on the television so that her father could see all the sportscasts on the news. Her mother reveled in her public role as Mrs. George Allen, but mother and daughter relished the freedom they had when her father and brothers left for training camp. Jennifer's French mother, a chain-smoker who could swear a blue streak and find irony in every situation, provided the comic relief to her husband's intensity. In a loving look at life with a dominating, driven coach, Allen provides an inside look at football, life in the sports limelight, and the 70s as she grows from a child to a rebellious young woman struggling to find her place in the world.-Jane S. Drabkin, Potomac Community Library, Woodbridge, VA
Copyright 2002 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
August 9, 2000
Allen, daughter of George Allen, one of professional football's most prominent coaches in the 1960s and 1970s, has written a unique book about the life sports fans rarely see: the home life of a coach's family with a father so focused on winning a Super Bowl championship that his family seemed hardly to matter. This is the story of a truly dysfunctional family, one in which the daughter (the author) tried hard to get to know her father but, because she wasn't part of his football coaching life, apparently never did. George Allen is not alive to defend himself, but the portrait his daughter draws is of a man totally dedicated to football to the exclusion of all else. The author tells of moving many times as the elder Allen took different coaching jobs; of never celebrating Christmas because it fell during the NFL playoffs; and of her father's paranoia about other teams to the point that he slept in his office during the season so that no other coach could outwork him. In sum, this is a devastating portrait of a family torn apart by Coach Allen's obsession to win a championship. Highly recommended for all libraries. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 6/1/00.]--William Scheeren, Hempfield Area H.S. Lib.
Copyright 2000 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.