Bleachers ANNOTATION
Presents a novel about high school football in a small Texas town, a place in which football has become a religion.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
"High school all-American Neely Crenshaw was probably the best quarterback ever to play for the legendary Messina Spartans. Fifteen years have gone by since those glory days, and Neely has come home to Messina to bury Coach Eddie Rake, the man who molded the Spartans into an unbeatable football dynasty." Now as Coach Rake's "boys" sit in the bleachers waiting for the dimming field lights to signal his passing, they replay the old games, relive the old glories, and try to decide once and for all whether they love Eddie Rake - or hate him. For Neely Crenshaw, a man who must finally forgive his coach - and himself - before he can get on with his life, the stakes are especially high.
FROM THE CRITICS
The New York Times
This is a book designed to make a certain type of grown man cry, and the author knows exactly which buttons to push: dying father figures, the scars of tough love, middle-aged regret and the mythology of the gridiron. What saves the story from melodrama is Grisham's refusal to offer pat resolutions; he allows his ambivalent characters to remain so. It also helps that he's a sure-footed storyteller with an undeniable mastery of plotting, pacing and tone.
— Jeff Turrentine
Publishers Weekly
Grisham demonstrated he could produce bestsellers without legal aid with The Painted House and Skipping Christmas, and he'll undoubtedly do so again with this slight but likable novel of high school football, a legendary coach and the perils of too early fame. Fifteen years after graduation, Neely Crenshaw, one-time star quarterback of the Messina Spartans, returns home on hearing news of the impending death of tough-as-nails coach Eddie Rake. Neely knows the score: "When you're famous at eighteen, you spend the rest of your life fading away." It's a lesson he's learned the hard way after destroying his knee playing college ball and drifting through life in an ever-downward spiral. He and his former teammates sit in the bleachers at the high school stadium waiting for Rake to die, drinking beer and reminiscing. There is a mystery involving the legendary '87 championship, and Neely has unfinished business with an old high school sweetheart, but neither story line comes to much. Readers will guess the solution to the mystery, as does the town police chief when it's divulged to him (" `We sorta figured it out,' said Mal") and Neely's former girlfriend doesn't want to have anything to do with his protestations of love ("You'll get over it. Takes about ten years"). The stirring funeral scene may elicit a few tears, but Neely's eulogy falls curiously flat. After living through four hard days in Messina, the lessons Neely learns are unremarkable ("Those days are gone now"). Many readers will come away having enjoyed the time spent, but wishing there had been a more sympathetic lead character, more originality, more pages, more story and more depth. (Sept. 9) Forecast: This is an "in between" book, with Grisham's next legal thriller due out in February. Print run is said to be two million copies-about 800,000 fewer than Grisham's legal thrillers, but still huge. The audio version of the book will be released on the same date as the print version, with Grisham doing the reading himself. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
School Library Journal
Adult/High School-A small klatch of players on Messina High School's 1987 football team assembles on the bleachers of Rake Field, home of the winning Spartans, and named after their controversial coach. Eddie Rake was the bane and bounty of three decades of athletes, and now he is dying. His personality comes to life as his team members recollect what it was like to play for him. As they come to roost on the bleachers, they all have a story from the coach's school of hard knocks. This is especially true of all-American quarterback, Neely Crenshaw. Coping with setbacks, longing for an old flame, and trying to make sense of the impending passing of the man who pushed him to the brink but whom he ultimately eulogizes is Neely's lot, and, readers can hope, the beginning of better luck. Teens will jeer and cheer in the appropriate places as they keep turning the pages, and, like the flavorful characters, will gain understanding from the perspective of the stands.-Karen Sokol, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
AudioFile
Good old boys and football--it's hard to separate the two. Grisham's story of small-town Southerners who live for football is told mainly through dialogue, both internal and external. The downside of this production is Grisham's flat delivery and lack of acting ability. Writers often can hear dialogue clearly enough in their minds, but the verbalizing is no easy task. If you're wondering what Grisham sounds like, this is a great opportunity; if you love good acting and narration, this isn't. Middle-aged regret and crises abound among the characters, the common thread being their love of Coach. D.J.B. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine
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