Customer Reviews

Bleachers (John Grisham)

5 star:		(119)
4 star:		(141)
3 star:		(75)
2 star:		(73)
1 star:		(72)

 

 

You've read Bleachers, John Grisham's newest bestseller, many times in a thousand other books, many of them better than this somewhat undersized novel. The general atmosphere of high school football which consumes an entire town has been told better in Friday Night Lights. The harsh treatment of young football hopefuls by dictator-coaches was brought into cruel focus in the non-fiction Junction Boys, about Bear Bryant and a legendary sweatbox training camp for his players during his first summer at Texas A&M. And, of course, keeping vigil for an impending death has been literally done to death many times, notably in Edward Albee's Pulitzer-Prize winning play All Over. So, why read Bleachers? Because, once again, the fresh, newspaper-like quality of John Grisham's minimalist prose draws us into the story and makes us love and, in our own ways, relate to all the characters, saint and sinner alike. Here, we have Neely Crenshaw, the gifted ex-quarterback who can't forgive Coach Eddie Rake for one moment of lockerroom abuse; Cameron, the ex-girlfriend whom he jilted in high school and who cannot fully forgive him; Mal, the ex-player turned lawman who has his own chilling tale to tell; and finally, the ex-teammates who meet spontanously in the bleachers of the old stadium awaiting news of the coach's impending death. They meet shyly, hesitantly at first, then start to drink and tell stories while listening to a tape broadcast of their most famous game. (Their shared stories as they relive this game are the undisputed high point of the book.) Yes, we even have the memorial service in which our ex-quarterback and (believe it or not) our dearly departed coach get the chance to have a final say. We know the outcome of this story as surely as Friday night football in the South. Why retell it? Because it is a very touching and human story and like all the best stories, deserves to be told again and again. (Besides, it'a a short book, and quick readers will finish it in a matter of hours.) In short, a good reaffirmation of life, the human spirit, and football in all it's glory.

I'm not a huge Grisham fan and find myself only really reading his departures, Skipping Christmas, and now Bleachers. I have to say that I truly did like both novels. Bleachers is not merely a sports story and I would disagree that you need to be a football fan to enjoy this book. Bleachers is much more. It's a story of shattered dreams, potential, regret, and coming to terms with one's past. The story's central character Neely Crenshaw deals with a love that hurts 10 years later, a coach dying whom he is unsure if he loves or hates. Bleachers makes you think back to the one person that affected your life more thn anyone. Bleachers is not a great character study and is certainly not going to blow your mind, but Bleachers is a great escape and will make you think back to the days when you were 18.

Am a football fan but this had no appeal to me. It just dragged on with lots of play-by-play. Where did vintage Grisham go?

There are no lawyers, judges, juries or DA's in "Bleachers" by John Grisham.

It is a simple, unpretentious story eloquently told.

The high school football team put a small Southern town on the map after a new coach was hired. Eddie Rake, the coach for 34 years won numerous state championships and had an eighty-four game winning streak.

More important than the stats was the influence, inspiration and affect he had on his players. They were considered the elite, not only of the school, but the town as well.

The coach is dying and players return for the vigil and funeral of the man they both loved and hated, revered and feared, adored and abhorred.

Generations of players mingle, stories are swapped and long held secrets are revealed.

A powerful book that will make you laugh, cry and cheer---and in the end feel uplifted and reaffirmed.

You cannot ask for more than that.

Let's first off establish that this book is not one of John Grisham's best books. It doesn't hold a candle to "A Time to Kill" or "The Partner." This book, however, is best read by those who love and appreciate sports or who have had an influential coach in their life. Other wise, the passages describing games and plays will drone on for a little too long.

After ten years Grisham still his own way of telling a story that is as comfortable as slipping on a favorite pair of pajamas. Bleachers is a quick romp, but not much to savor.

We wonder if this little hardback about little more than small-town high school football is somewhat autobiographical, given that the dust jacket mentions that for a while Grisham quarterbacked the Southaven High (Miss.) team? Like "A Painted House", this book is not about lawyers, and is definitely not a thriller. Rather it is a nostalgic look back at a group of boys who played football for a notorious love/hate-type coach, Eddie Rake. Rake is dying of cancer and many of the boys, some of whom still live in town, convene a vigil at Rake Field and sit on the bleachers to reminisce. That's about it. While at times the book showed insight and emotion, at others it was dull and plodding. An attempt by the central character (Neely Crenshaw, the old QB) to redeem a former love affair gone awry was pretty silly, and thankfully for the women, the girl tolerated no parts of it.

Anything Grisham writes, including this novella, will no doubt sell a bazillion copies. This quick read might just as well be checked out from the library if you insist.

Frankly Bleachers left flat, tired and uninterested, kind of like watching a high school football game where the opponent is trouncing your team and the only sensation left is the hardness of the bleachers.

I wonder what Grisham is up to? Where are the legal dramas that made him a keeper and a best seller? I can only hope that court will be in session again soon and that Grisham will leave these non-legal dramas to other authors more fitted to the genre.

Douglas McAllister

I look forward to reading new books by favorite authors, but this one was extremely not worth the price of the book. If I had written this, no publisher would have touched it. It will sell based on his name only. My advice--skip it.

Unless you really love football and understand the ins and outs of this game, don't waste your time on Bleachers. The story line gets lost in all the game jargon and the characters are stereotypes of small town folk. The ex football stars lament their former glory days while criminals and cops share a beer together reminising on thier teen years. They come across as fake, dull and I did not care in the least what became of any of them. Grisham's leading man, a former high school football star, who lost his big chances when he was injured in college, returns to his small town after the death of his former coach. He is arrogant, complacent and unlikable. Apparently he has come home to face his past demons but Grisham spends so much time describing technical football plays that I'm not sure exactly what those demons were aside from the fact he did not like his coach and still felt jilted about losing out on a career with the NFL.
This is not typical Grisham fare by a long shot and if you are expecting any thrills you will be dissappointed. I applaud that Grisham is willing to take a risk and try new things; I really enjoyed his efforts with the The Painted House and Skipping Christmas. But where Grisham scored with those novels he drops the ball here.

This slim (168 pages) novel follows a week in the vigil and funeral for an historic high school football coach in a small town devoted religiously to the sport. Actually, fanatics, crazed, zealots, insane boosters and other, even stronger words come to mind to describe the town's commitment, The pending death of the coach gives reason for a goodly number of his 700-plus former athletes to come into town. Neely - the knee-damaged super quarterback of the stunning 1987 state championship -- is back, for the first time in a long time. He, not the dying coach, is the center of the story.

Supporting Neely is a good array of colorful characters, high school jock stereotypes - the gangly, misfooted punter who later comes out of the closet and now owns a book store, the star receiver now managing the local bank, the convict, the ex-convict, and the current sheriff, the scrawny back who suffers a terrible fate, and more. And there is the memory of the perfect, dumb, devilish, blonde cheerleader, who is out of town but on the mind of more players than just Neely. She took Neely away from another stereotype: the cute girl who grows up to be perfect. Neely can't forget her and she can't forgive him for leaving her for the legs and lungs of the vixen.

There is not much time to develop the characters, not in these few pages. Two threads run through the book: the death that led to the coach's firing and the mystery behind that 1987 state championship when, trailing 31-0 at the half, Neely and Silo (Yes, he's built like a silo; there's also one athlete named Hindu.) lead the team back for a miraculous win. Best of all, one alum drags out a tape of the second half, allowing a radio broadcast to magnify the mystery: Why did the coaches not return to the field for the second half.

The funeral and the final showdown with the jilted first love provide answers. While no great novel, and no great work of art, "Bleachers" offers a sweet trip down memory lane for any boy who ever fastened a leather chin strap on an old high school helmet, and who never got the girl, the championship, or the short-lived, bittersweet glory. And you can read it in ninety minutes. Or rent "Everybody's All-American" to watch Dennis Quaid play someone quite like Neely.