Stars N Gripes

Book excerpt: An eighteen-month contract coaching soccer skills to the affluent communities of rural New Jersey brings a young British lad to one of the greatest metropolitan districts in the world-New York City. The minute Jonny Carter has his passport stamped in the United States, he gives himself permission to roam and to document the thoughts and observances of a foreigner abandoned in the Big Apple. In his delightful collection of vignettes, Jonny interjects humor and sarcasm as he fumbles and forages through life in a vastly different culture. From across the North Atlantic, Jonny brings a Brit's contagious love of soccer as he describes his "twelve little honeys," an all-girls soccer team in small-town New Jersey where he spends his days teaching stepovers and squeezy pushes. In his off season, Jonny explores the city and soon discovers idiot drivers, a drab bar scene, smoking prohibition, ethnicity and the agonizing process at the DMV. He will keep you smiling as he tells of his visit to the Brooklyn Bridge and his encounters with American girls. With a brilliant mixture of cynicism and wit, Jonny shares his fresh and entertaining perspective of life in New York City.